Chook Me! - I need to know everything about incubators with chicken eggs?

I need to know everything about incubators with chicken eggs?

im in middle school and we have to do a science fair project and im making a homemade incubator and im putting chicken eggs in there so i need to know what temp to keep at, what food do i feed them once hatched, do i get a heated light bulb I NEED HELP!!!!!! i don't want to kill them ill be devastated so if you know plz help. thanks!!!

Public Comments

First question. Did you buy the egg at the grocery store or get it from a farm? The reason I ask is the egg would need to be kept warm and fertilized. Grocery store eggs are kept cold and it is doubtful the hen ever saw a cock. Here are a couple of websites with different homemade incubators that might help.
Your incubator, homemade or not, would have to maintain a constant temperature of 98 degrees until the egg(s) hatch which will take 21 days (for most anyways) Wow, I would have never thought of making or building an incubator; That's gotta be interesting enough. Once hatched, the chicks could go for another 2-3 days without food or water because they are still living off the yolk part that gets absorbed last into their belly. After the 2-3 days I would provide them with fine chick mash and a little bit of water mixed with a small amount of sugar to get them fully alerted and to a good start. **Depending upon how many chicks you plan to hatch I would recommend you build a brooder to 2 chicks per square foot. This would be plenty room for them to move around and grow into as they get bigger for the next few weeks or so. As for heat lamp, I suggest you use the red type. Prevents picking and not as bright and hard on their eyes. Start out the temperature inside the brooder at about 95 degrees and lower the temperature by 5 degrees each week until you get to 70 degrees. These are the generals guidelines to keeping days old chicks happy, healthy, and active. You'll do just fine. Sounds like a fun project and wish you a fun and successful experience...Good luck! **you may also find this helpful: http://www.ehow.com/how_5788_raise-baby-chicks.html http://urbanchickens.org/raising-baby-chicks