The Eggs are Hatching!

Today is day 21 for the eggs....hatch day....and....they are hatching!  When I left school Wednesday night, four eggs had some small cracks in their shell.  When I arrived at school today....four baby chicks awaited!  Three Blue Andalusian chicks and one Barred Rock chick!  By the time I left today, four more Barred Rock chicks hatched!  We have 6 eggs left....we'll see how many are waiting for me tomorrow!

 

The first four chicks that hatched!

The little black chick in the center just hatched!

Tomorrow, the dry chicks will be put in the brooder where they will live until they leave us for upstate NY!

The Chick Eggs Are On Lockdown!

Today is day 18...only 3 more days until the eggs hatch!  Inside the egg, the chicks now have their feathers and the egg tooth at the tip of their beak that helps them crack their eggshell! To keep the conditions ideal for hatching the eggs, the incubator won't be opened again until the chicks hatch..they are on lockdown!

Only 3 more day until they hatch!

Many of the classes think all 14 eggs will hatch!  Two years ago, we had 20 eggs and 19 hatched, so hopefully we will be successful again this year!

The eggs are out of the turner.  The humidity
level is now between 65 and 70%.

The brooder is ready for when they hatch! 
Water, food and a heat lamp!

In a day or two we might even be able to hear the chicks cheep inside the shell! Lots of excitement in room 112!

The Ducklings Have Arrived!

I was so excited to see if any of the ducklings hatched that I got to work a half an hour early!  But when I arrived, I only saw....bigger pips on three of the eggs.

Three eggs ready to go!

You can see the ducklings beak on the left.

And out comes the duckling!

The first duckling hatched during science with K-127.  They came up with the name Cutie!

Half an hour later...duckling number two arrives!

They love to snuggle together.

They love to sleep together.

One more egg with a pip!

This silly duckling (#2) got it's head stuck in an empty shell!
I had to pull it off!

A Mother's Day Surprise!

Today is day 25 for the duck eggs.  Only three days before they hatch!  Today is the day I take the eggs out of the egg turner so that when the duckling start to hatch, they won't get caught in the turner.  I also increase the humidity level from 55% to 67% percent to help keep the duckling moist which helps with the hatching process.

Imagine my surprise when I looked in the incubator and saw that three of the eggs had pips (where the duckling pecks the shell to get out)!  Once you see the pip the duckling will hatch anywhere from 24 to 36 hours later.  I could even hear them chirping inside their shell!

Now we wait.......

The Duck Eggs are Half Way There!

Today is day 14! We started out with 10 eggs, but 2 of the eggs were not fertilized. We now have 8 eggs! Four of the eggs look pretty healthy, but I'm not sure about the other 4.  Fingers crossed!

This large egg was cracked by the egg turner. I read online, that wax
can help seal the cracks and prevent bacteria from getting in. 
We'll see if it works for us!

The way to check the growth of the duck embryo is to candle the egg.  To do that, I hold a flashlight on the egg and see how it looks inside!  The glow should be orangey red and you should see blood vessels.  At day 14, you might be able to see the ducks eye and even see it move around inside the egg!

This is a healthy egg.  You can see the blood vessels!

In 11 days I take the eggs out of the turner and place them on the mesh bottom of the incubator.  I also increase the humidity level from 55 % to 67%.  Then we will wait out the last three days until the eggs begin to hatch!

The Chicks Have Arrived!

The chicks decided to hatch a day early!  When I arrived at school on Monday one egg had a pip (a hole where the chick first pecks at the shell). It wiggled around throughout the day, but the pip didn't grow much bigger.

However, when I arrived at school today....quite a different story! I could hear peeping even before I opened the door! And what should be waiting for me? Four newly hatched chicks: two Freedom Ranger chicks (yellow) and two Barred Rock chicks (black).

Then I noticed about five other eggs with pips in them! What a busy day we had! Chicks were hatching all day long!

They will stay in the incubator for 24 hours and then they will move to the brooder. 

Another chick getting ready to hatch!

The yellow chick on the top just hatched!

I can't wait to see what they look like tomorrow and to see how many more chicks hatched!

Three More Days Before the Chicks Hatch!

Today the chick eggs were taken out of the egg turner and placed on the mesh floor of the incubator for the final lockdown!  Lockdown is when the humidity level is raised in the incubator to about 70% and the eggs aren't touched until they hatch!  Only 3 more days to wait!  We have been talking in class about the probability that not all eggs will hatch.  When eggs have been flown to their destination (as ours have) a 50% hatch rate is average!

Are they moving?

Looking at the eggs in the incubator.

The PK classes at the Annex came to room 112 to look at the eggs!

What do you think the chick looks like in the egg right now?

Three more days until we find out!!

This is what some of the PK think the chicks look like inside the egg!

Kindergarten is also learning about the life cycle of the chicken.

Two of the eggs have spots on them!

All the eggs are now out of the turner and are ready for lockdown!

The count down continues.

The brooder is ready for the chicks!

The Chick Eggs Are Here!

Today I to North Salem, NY to pick up the chick eggs!  This year we have 10 Barred Rock eggs (from Idaho) and 10 Freedom Ranger eggs (from Pennsylvania).   

Some chickens wandering around at the egg pick up spot!

The eggs were carefully laid on the floor and survived a bumpy drive back to Brooklyn!

The eggs are protected in cartons and a plain old plastic bag.

 The eggs are placed on the egg turner in the incubator.  The optimum conditions for the eggs are 100F and between 45-55% humidity.  Now the count down begins.....21 days until they hatch!

20 eggs rotating!

Surprise!!

Today is day 25 of the eggs in the incubator.  It's a big day!  I take the egg turner out of the incubator and lay the eggs directly on the bottom of the incubator raise the humidity level to help the ducklings not stick to the egg shell when they are trying to get out!

 When I arrived in the classroom and peaked into the incubator, what should I see? A DUCKLING!

I was worried that maybe the little duckling was injured trying to get free from the turner....

but all looks good!  It's "cheeping" and waddling and sleeping!

The egg the duckling hatched from!
Nice and neat!

The cutest little thing ever!

Now we all wait for the other ducklings to hatch!