Oeufs Fécondés

Our next crazy start is trying to hatch chickens from eggs. As we don't have a cockeral (the noise you know - maybe in the future) we had to buy some fertilised eggs. We got Marans eggs to see if the eggs taste any different and because we think their dark brown eggs will be a nice contrast to the white eggs of the Gascones that we already have. Clearly even assuming we manage to hatch any, it is going to be quite some time before they are ready to lay eggs (or be eaten)
The incubator looks huge, but it only has 23 eggs in it. 20 would have fitted better, but we bought 24 (because it said 24 hen eggs would fit - they would have to be minature hen eggs...) and didn't want to waste more than was unavoidable. We have one left over unfortunately, but c'est la vie!

A Marans egg

The incubator

The eggs need turning twice a day, which is done by pushing (one time) or pulling (the other time) the blue stick you can just see sticking out the incubator on the right of the picture. The ground under the eggs is moved and they all roll over. They roll one way then the other, it would be bad if they kept being rolled over and over the same way because there is a cord that connects the yolk to the shell that would get twisted.
The incubator has a little reservoir you fill with water to give the eggs a humid environment and a thermometer sticking out the top so we can check the temperature is constant. A fan in the top of the unit very gently moves the air around to keep the temperature constant all over the incubator and to ensure the eggs get enough oxygen. All sounds v high tech, can't possibly go wrong... although reading the internet about how to incubate eggs makes it sound very complicated and that most things you do will kill the eggs.
We don't have a room with a warm enough and constant temperature for best operation, we shall just have to hope for the best!