How to HATCH CHICKS in a Homemade Incubator
(Page 3 of 6)
March/April 1975
by Vikki & Ted Purve - Smith
The only way to tell whether an egg is alive is by incubation. The chances are improved, however, by a correct proportion of males to females in your colony. One rooster can tread from 30 to 50 hens, and each member of the harem should be serviced at least once a week to ensure fertility of her eggs. This fertility, however, may be impaired by too frequent coatings and excessive inbreeding may affect the growth and quality of your chicks. Gather eggs for incubation at least once a day, and try to choose those that are large and well-formed. Check them carefully for cracks (you can always eat the rejects). Since eggshells "breathe" through pores that allow oxygen to enter and waste gases to escape, you should wear clean cotton gloves-or make sure your hands are well scrubbed-to avoid clogging the openings with oil or grease. New-laid eggs are covered with natural protective coating and should never be washed. We do. however, date each of our gatherings with a non-toxic pen anal mark the other side with a circle to help us keep track of is, position when we turn it in the incubator. If you plan to keep the eggs awhile before incubation, handle them as little as possible and cool them slowly in a well ventilated place. Then move them to a storage area with a temperature of 55° to 65° F and a relative humidity of 70 to, 80 percent. Turn the eggs once a day. The longer you hold your hen fruit, the less fertile it will become. The decline sets in by the sixth or seventh day and is complete by the tenth or twelfth. We prefer to use fresh layings as much as possible.
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When you're ready to incubate eggs that have been stored. remove them from the cooler and let them remain at room temperature for three to four hours. If you place cool eggs in the chamber with others that are already warm, the temperature of the latter will be reduced and their growth retarded.
In warm weather there's a possibility that the eggs you gather may already have germinated and will be injured by cooling. At such times we've moved ours directly from the nest to the incubator until its capacity (50) was reached each egg should be positioned correctly in the hatchery. As, the embryo inside develops, the chick's head will move to the highest point and-by the 12th or 14th day-the baby will have turned lengthwise in the shell and its further growth will prevent it from moving again. This makes it important for the large end of the egg where an air cell forms-to be placed UP Then, at hatching time-about the 20th day-when the chick is ready to break through the amnion membrane into the air cell for its first breath, it will be able to do so.
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