The eggs arrived from the hatchery! Seven Barred Plymouth Rock chicken eggs, seven Rhode Island Red chicken eggs, and fourteen Corturnix quail eggs. Our eggs came through the United States Postal Service and were delivered directly to our door. The exterior of the box is amply labeled to caution anyone handling the box of it’s precious, breakable cargo. All 28 eggs arrived without a crack.
Inside the box, the eggs are held securely in styrofoam pockets, pointy side down. We left the eggs sitting in a safe place overnight before putting them in the incubator. This helps them to warm up to room temperature and for the air sack to settle at the top of the egg.
While waiting for our eggs to acclimate, we prepared our Hova incubator so it would be ready when the time arrived. There are several different sized water troughs in the bottom to provide adjustable humidity. We filled trough #1 with water, placed 2 different thermometers in the bottom, and adjusted the thermostat to maintain a constant temperature of 100°.
When ready, we marked the eggs with an “X” on one side “TR” on the other to help us consistently turn the eggs while Inside the incubator. The eggs need to be turned at least 3 times a day to ensure proper growth of the chicks. The incubation time for chickens is 21 days, but the incubation time for corturnix is only 17 days. As the eggs near their hatching date, the humidity level will be increased and the eggs will no longer required turning.
We’ll see how it goes! As they always say… “don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”
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