Home >> Science & Nature >> Animals & Science

How to Set Eggs for Hatching

Incubating eggs and preparing them to hatch can be a project used in the classroom to teach students about raising a flock of chickens. Heating is the most important aspect of incubating an egg. The person who is incubating the egg needs to mimic the temperature it would receive if it was in the care of its parent. The quality of the egg must match the quality of its original environment, so pick a healthy egg.

Things You'll Need

Incubator

Instructions

- 1
  Choose smooth eggs that are a normal shape, color and size.
- 2
  Cool the eggs in a place with a temperature between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit as soon as it is laid. The sooner you snatch the egg from the hen and place in a cool area, the better. You want to cool it for several days but less than a week.
- 3
  Ensure the humidity is between 70 and 75 percent.
- 4
  Place the eggs in an incubator. Rock the eggs gently in an incubator to one side and then back to the other side for several hours. This will allow the contents of the egg to detach from the shell.
- 5
  Ensure you gradually warm up the egg. Keep them at room temperature for three hours before putting them in the preheated incubator. This will avoid sweating and the possibility of microorganisms accessing the insides of the egg.
- 6
  Set the incubator to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Ensure it stays between 97 and 102 degrees. Set the relative humidity to 60 percent. Evenly space the eggs on their sides.
- 7
  Turn the eggs 180 degrees three times per day. Try to evenly space out the hours you turn them. Don't turn the eggs after day 17 of the process.
- 8
  Allow the eggs to incubate up to 21 days and six hours. Increase the humidity to 70 percent after 18 days.

Animals & Science