Day 15

Today we candled the eggs, which is basically taking them out of the incubator and seeing if the embryo was successful growing. This is a process that must be done in order to follow their growth. Unfortunately we found two dud eggs :(  leaving us with four. However this is the reason we bought six in the first place, so that if two were to not develop because of transit or fertilization, we would still have four.


At least I know I am doing the right thing, I do have four and that is more than half, which is what I was warned I could lose. 

Diagram of Embryology of the Fetal Embryotic Chick (the chick growth in the egg)

So I took this from a website for elementary school students, but it is the same diagram everywhere, this one was just nicer looking. Right now they are at day seven (the last picture in the first row). Fourteen days until they hatch!!

Comence Incubation!

Yesterday we retrieved the eggs int the mail at 10:30. We received six eggs from Arkansas (from the company My Pet Chicken). They had to sit at room temperature for about twelve hours to stabilize. That night I put them in the incubator at 100 degrees Fahrenheit and about 50 percent humidity. This is the recommended/ideal temperatures for the eggs to incubate. I have a Hova Bator Incubator with an automatic egg-turner. They will remain in the incubator at those exact temperature and humidity for about 18 days. At 18 days the egg turner comes out and the humidity will be risen.

The Gist of Things

This blog is about my Girl Scout Gold Award project called "EGG-citing Organics". It is a project that incorporates biology and nutrition. It all started last year when I started working on a farm in my town called The Farm at Oyster Bay in Oyster Bay Cove, New York. This farm raises crops and donates them to food pantries. The farm is organic and I really learned a lot from it as well as loved the whole idea of organics. I had never really learned much about it before this opportunity and I really found it fascinating. This opportunity on the farm made me want to show other people what organic foods are really all about. So for this reason I started my basis of the project on organics. 

The reason why I called my project "EGG-citing Organics" is because I am going to hatch and raise chickens to bring to this farm that I volunteer on. The chickens will be able to give eggs as well as help the crops obtain nutrients by creating an organic manure (chicken poop). I am going to be sharing my knowledge with girl scout troops and other interested people. I will use this blog as another outside source for people to see my project grow and develop with time. I will be posting picture, videos, and anything else I get my hands on to show my project in an EGG-traordinary way.