Anxiously waiting...

Our 4 little chicken eggs have been incubating for 16 days now. Inside the incubator, temperatures have been averaging 99.9-100.1 degrees and humidity levels have been between 45-55%. Near perfect for our (hopefully) developing chicks! We opted NOT to candle them, hoping that they're fertilized and developing. (My Mom's chicks came from the same flock and 80% of her eggs were fertilized.) The eggs feel heavier...Only 5 more days to hatch!

Oh, candling? A candler can be a simple tool (with a 1" diameter circle out of out a side and a BRIGHT flashlight shining through) to see inside a developing egg. Candling is usually done to see if the egg is fertile AND to check to see if the animal seems to be healthy and developing normally. We watched this COOL YouTube video of a 8-10 day chick MOVING inside the egg!

We've been watching You Tube chick hatching videos too, which led to watching other egg hatching videos like ducks, Robins, turtles, owls, and snakes. We especially liked watching the ducks. Perhaps incubating ducks next spring for a project?

In preparation, we visited the hardware store for supplies and put together a simple brooder - a chick coop - from a clear plastic box (so we can watch them easier), a lid with the middle cut out and wire attached over the hole, bedding, a couple of bricks, a heating lamp, and a plastic feeder and water dish.

Our Brooder Without Bedding and Bricks to Raise Water

Testing the Temperature Inside the Brooder

I'm a bit apprehensive. We've incubated chick eggs twice before. And both times resulted in no chicks. My Mom thinks our humidity levels were too low, especially the last few days when humidity needs to be raised to 85%. We didn't monitor humidity so closely the first 2 clutches. The kids are optimistic that we'll end up with 4 cheeping, fuzzies by the end of the week. Not long to wait now!