On Friday, June 18th, we collected 16 fertile eggs from our dear friends the Arsenault's. They have a VERY active rooster! We placed them in the incubator that Glenn and Brittany made in 2000 as a homeschool project! We used it one time in 2004, and haven't used it since then ourselves. We've loaned it out to other families, though. Our eggs are due to hatch 21 days later on July 9th! They need a great deal of attention. They need to be turned three times a day. The incubator needs to maintain a consistent temperature of 100.5 degrees. This is done by a thermostat and this controls two light bulbs and how often they come on and off. There needs to be a water supply in the bottom for moisture. This is important to the developing chicks. On day 17, there will be no more need to turn the eggs and we will need to leave the incubator closed and make sure there is plenty of moisture in there to last for the remaining 4 days. This most closely simulates the hen nesting on the eggs. In the photos above, you may see some initials on some of the eggs. Maddie, Grace, and Elisha have all "claimed" an egg to be their chick! We also have stars on each egg to show what side they were last turned on.
One week ago, we candled the eggs. This means to take a flashlight in a dark area and put it right up to the egg shell. You can see the developing chick inside the egg. It was really cool. We believe all 16 eggs are fertile and should produce chicks. Today is day 13 and this is what the chicks look like in the egg on day 15 and day 20. It's quite amazing and a true testimony to God's creation!
We promise to keep you posted as things progress!
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