On day 7 we candled the eggs using flashlights and toilet paper tubes. We were able to see a dark spot (without any sort of definition really) in most of the shells that we thought might be a developing chick. Some egg shells the light shined right through. We realized there were no chicks in those guys and discarded the eggs.
On day 14 we candled the eggs again using an 84 watt LED light bulb and toilet paper tube. I was able to rule out a couple more eggs as non-viable. And the olive eggs, well, we were still unable to get any light through them. They are dark and thick. We were pretty sure they weren't fertile as we hadn't seen that chicken especially cozy with Mr. Johnson. But we left them all in the incubator anyway. One egg was particularly accommodating as it allowed us to see not only the shape of the chick, but also what we figured was the heart. Light colored eggs with not too thick of a shell are best for candling.
I figured day 21 would have been yesterday afternoon ... all the kids were hoping they would come into the classroom early Monday morning and find a pile of chicks. Not so.
But today, Tuesday, I arrived at school to find the door to the classroom locked and some very excited kids standing outside the door, "There's a chick! There's a chick that hatched!" I managed to get inside and have a look. Wow! Apparently Valerie's teacher came in earlier and it was still wet. Naturally I had cleaned off the camera card and charged the battery in preparation for this moment. And I put the camera in a very special place where I wouldn't forget it ... and it was still there when I got home. Doh!
By the time I made it back to school in the afternoon there were two more hatchlings and a couple of cracked and wiggling eggs! Oh, this was exciting. The kids told me one of the chicks had a bald neck. I thought perhaps that was a defect and the chick wouldn't make it. But then I remembered that Max has these really ugly chickens amongst his flock called turkens. Here's a picture I pulled of the web:
Well, I guess that little one is one of Max's. And one of our Olive eggs did hatch after all. Oh, that rascal, Mr. Johnson and Olive!!!
It was difficult to get good pictures as I had to take the photo through the window of the incubator. We can't open it until they all hatch. So, I think I will bring home the little ones tomorrow or Thursday and update with better looking pix.
Here you can see an egg with a little hole in it. The kids and I stayed after school for over an hour watching that one and the one next to it wiggle and move. But no chick yet. We expect to see more in the morning.
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