Hyper is the name of a little chick that hatched on May 24, 1997. She was part of a Kindergarten class project. They were hatching one dozen eggs for the science fair. These chicks' fight for life and Hyper's survival are ones that we should remember and learn from. This story has been written in an attempt to possibly help future class projects have better success rates.

My name is Mary. I am a mother of one of these Kindergarten children. Her name is Jessica. I have another child who is 15 and her name is Kate. I will be telling the story from my point of view as it unfolded. But please keep in mind that every hatching is different and some of what I describe here may not apply to you. My goal is to let those of you who are interested in hatching chicks understand some of the chicks' needs throughout the hatching and to understand not all hatchings come out with happy endings. Fortunately, ours finally did.

On May 1, 1997 Mr. Tranmer, a Kindergarten teacher, acquired a dozen fertilized chicken eggs. He was going to have the kids in class experience a hatching which demonstrates the miracle of life. He hoped the eggs would be hatched in time for the science fair. These eggs were put into their incubator on May first and should be done hatching by May 21. The incubator had been up and running for a few days before to make sure the temperature inside would stay at a steady 100 degrees. The incubator was a common one constructed of styrofoam. Its heating coils were attached inside the lid. The thermometer Mr. Tranmer used came with the incubator. It was a standing model that made reading the temperature easier without having to open the incubator. This model of incubator also came with an automatic egg rotator. Once the eggs were placed inside the incubator, Mr. Tranmer monitored the temperature level and made sure the rotator was working properly.

Everything went well until the day the eggs were supposed to hatch. Mr. Tranmer turned the heat down to 96 degrees, per the instructions supplied with the incubator, on the day they were expected to hatch, May 21st. The eggs were taken out of the automatic turner and placed, large ends down, leaning against the sides of the incubator. Mr. Tranmer placed water in the wells at the bottom of the incubator to increase the humidity. The next day came and went. It was during this day that the school experienced a power outage that lasted a couple of hours. Mr. Tranmer was busy with the excited children and did not get a chance to check on the chicks. It is unknown how cool the incubator was during this time.

It was now the 22nd day and Mr. Tranmer was starting to get worried. Memorial day weekend was that weekend and Mr. Tranmer had expected the chicks to be done hatching by then. On May 23rd, Friday, at 8am Mr. Tranmer noticed a chick had pipped. There was a hole in the egg large enough for the chick to breathe. The kids were now getting excited. By 3pm the status of the chick had not changed. It had now been at least seven hours since the chick had started hatching, possibly longer. Although he was peeping through the hole, which sounded soo cute, the hole was no larger than it was before. Mr. Tranmer was concerned. He had not made plans to care for the unhatched chicks over the long weekend because he had expected them to be hatched and able to fend for themselves. But at this critical stage they needed constant care. He thought all day and finally asked me. I believe he chose me because I had just rescued, raised and released a baby Robin. But I had not done egg hatching before. I had no idea what to expect but agreed to do my best. Mr. Tranmer instructed me on what should happen during the hatching process. He also provided a spray bottle with boiled water as an aid to help the chicks clear their shells. In past hatchings, he experienced problems with the chicks drying to their shells. Another parent had suggested spraying the shells as a possible way of helping the chicks remain moist enough to finish hatching.

We placed the eggs inside an egg carton and put them back into the incubator. At this point, we noticed another chick had cracked its shell. In the 10 minutes it took to get the eggs to my home and set it all back up, the temperature in the incubator had dropped to the 70's. It did not take long to regain the heat loss. By evening, the eggs that had started their pipping earlier had not changed but two others had begun their hatching process.

I tried to find information on hatching chicken eggs and the possible problems that may arise through the local library and the Internet. I found that most sites and books did not go into great detail. They also did not seem to care whether a chick hatched successfully. The sites and books I had located were all farming related and dealt with chickens on a massive scale. I did locate email addresses of two people I thought might be able to help, or at least direct me to someone who could. I emailed them a plea for help. Alas, it was soo late in the day and I knew they wouldn't be able to respond fast enough for the chicks. I did find some information on what the temperature and humidity level should be inside the incubator at the different times during the incubation. I had a combination hygrometer and temperature gauge already at home and placed it on the bottom of the incubator. I needed the hygrometer to measure the level of the humidity. This put it at the same level as the middle of the eggs which is what one of the instructions I found said to do. This would give me an accurate reading of what the actual temperature in the eggs really were. To my surprise my temperature gauge read 10 degrees lower than the standing guage! I placed another thermometer on the bottom at the same level as the one I had just put in thinking maybe the first one I put in was defective. The second one also registered 10 degrees lower than the standing thermometer. How could this be? Then it hit me. The standing thermometer that came with the incubator was reading the temperature near the heating coils - not near the eggs!!!! I raised the temperature in the icubator to the appropriate level. This discovery meant that the temperature had been off the entire incubating time! It's a wonder any chicks hatched at all. No where in the instructions that came with the incubator did it state this problem.

I added more water to the wells in the incubator according to the instructions. But then the humidity level was well over 75%. This was too high. I had just read it was to be 65%. I ended up putting a small pyrex glass bowl half full with water in the incubator instead and that kept the humidity around 68%, closest to what it should be.

The next morning there were four eggs with holes in them large enough to breathe. The first chick's peeps were very much weaker. This chick had been hatching for about 24 hours or more. The cracked egg had progressed no further. I ran over to our local feed store where they had chicks for sale hoping they could give me some advice. The employees could not help me. I decided I had to do something. That something was to trust my instincts. I kept in mind something I had learned in science in school, chicks need to struggle out of their shells to survive. I proceeded to break away bits of shell on all of the eggs that had started to hatch. I did it very carefully with tweezers. But I didn't remove too much of the shell so they could still struggle. The chick which had only cracked the shell and had not made a hole big enough to breathe had died in the shell. I buried this 1st chick in an open area of my property that needed to be repopulated with trees. I used an Alaskan Cedar sapling as its head marker.

In the meantime, the others were trying to struggle free. I noticed that the membranes around the edge of the shells were drying out. I sprayed the eggs gently with the water supplied by Mr. Tranmer. This seemed to help the chicks. One chick had more blood in the shell than its siblings. This chick never did completely clear its shell before it died. Its total hatching time was about 12 hours and had been the last to start it's pipping at 11pm the night before. I later buried this chick in the same area with another sapling as its head marker.

Finally a chick cleared its shell! It was doing fine until I noticed an air bubble on its neck. I did not know what to do. I hoped to hear from the two people I emailed the night before. But no response had come yet. Jessica was with me when this little guy emerged. She didn't really notice the air bubble until I did. Jessica has been around a lot of animals and quickly asked me if this bubble meant the chick would die. I told her that I didn't know. We would have to wait and see.

By 12:10pm on May 24 - the remaining hatching three chicks were out of their shells. I had read enough to know to keep them in the incubator until their feathers dried. Their heads looked like their feathers had been glued down and were not fluffing up like the rest of their body feathers. This made them look rather peculiar.

My husband remembered a friend of ours that raises Emus and I called him. He told me that if the hatching process goes on for more than 12 hours the chicks will not do very well. After I told him what I had done so far, he said that I had done the right things. He said the one that died in the shell most likely died because it was not strong enough to break a hole big enough in the shell to breathe. Our friend also told me that these chicks were most likely dehydrated from the lack of humidity throughout the incubation process. He also said that the hatching process has taken far too long. The chicks did not need to eat for the first 36 to 48 hours. Their yolk sacs that their body absorbs before hatching would nourish them. However, they do need to drink. For right now, he suggested getting an eye dropper to give them water. I fed them water every quarter hour for an hour. Then I fed them water every half hour, just when they seemed to be getting weak again. Each time they got water, they seamed to get a little stronger. Jessica came in every time to watch. She wanted to hold them sooo much. But I felt they were just too weak to be handled more than they needed to be. Besides, I really didn't want her to get attached to them just in case. Then my friend told me when the time came for them to start drinking and eating on their own that I should tap a finger in the food or water bowls and the chicks would try to mimic my movement. This has always worked for him - even on the most finicky eaters.

By 11:00 p.m., the remaining seven eggs had not hatched and the air bubble was still on the one chick. This chick seemed to move around lopsidedly. Jessica took a liking to this feeble chick. But one of the siblings that was really active she named Hyper. This seemed to be the chick she finally liked the best. My eldest took to the one with the air bubble. The chicks were left in the incubator to dry overnight. I gave them water before going to bed.

On May 25 - I woke early and gave each chick water. The three survived the night but seemed very weak before I gave them the water. The chick that had the air bubble no longer had it. It must have been absorbed. Its wing seemed to be stuck to its side. I used a little water and gently massaged it to loosen it. The chick could then move it freely. I had set up the box, given to me by Mr.Tranmer, with the light he also provided for heat and laid wood chips on the bottom. But I just could not get the temperature to come down to 96 degrees. I decided to attach the light to my camera's tripod. Now I could raise and lower the light easily until the proper temperature was maintained. But the box I was given was really too small for three chicks. The light made most of the box hot so that the chicks could not get out of the heat if they wanted to. Being the pack rat that I am, I still had some of our boxes we had used when we moved to our home a few years before. I used a medium sized U-haul box (a medium sized Ryder box is the same) and set it up the same way. This size box was perfect. But still, the chicks showed no signs of wanting to drink or eat on their own. They just seemed to be sooo weak. So I continued with the eye dropper.

Each chick received a name that reflected a characteristic of theirs. Jessica named "Hyper" due to her overactiveness. The chick with the air bubble was named Lucky. And since the air bubble disappeared on its own, I felt that he was lucky. "Tummy up" was the last chick. At first I thought Tummy Up was sick because of this preference to lie on his back. The chick showed no other outward sign of illness. Yet he grew weaker and weaker. Looking back, this behavior probably meant that he was exhausted and dehydrated and needed nourishment. Something more than water. He was the next one buried with a sapling at his head on May 25 at 4:30, a little over 16 hours after he hatched.

I was really getting concerned. Will any of the chicks survive? I received some information about the chicks from the people I had emailed. But their answers regarded the hatching process, which was now over. So I emailed one of them with my questions on the feeding and the watering of the chicks and if they had any idea why they were so sluggish. In the meantime I decided to add a little food to the water for protein each time I fed them. This seemed to give the last two, Hyper and Lucky, more energy. Although Lucky was quite a bit smaller than Hyper, it gained energy and became more active as the hours rolled by. I was afraid to sleep for fear of losing the last two. By 2:00 a.m., on May 25, my eyes just wouldn't stay open. The chicks seemed to be a lot stronger. What disturbed me was that Hyper kept sitting on Lucky. I first thought maybe he was cold and trying to nuzzle with him. But after watching, I realized that he was purposly sitting on Lucky. Survival of the fittest? I decided to risk a couple of hours sleep anyway. I still had my human family to consider and I wouldn't be any good to them exhausted.

I woke at 6:45 a.m. to the sound of silence. Slowly and hesitantly I crept into the room where the chicks were. Hyper was still alive, but Lucky was not. I guess he wasn't very lucky anymore. He now rests near his other siblings with yet another sapling to mark his head.

I talked with Mr. Tranmer that Tuesday about the temperature difference. He remembered that last year he had kept the temperature higher, according to the standing thermometer. He got three chicks then. Mr. Tranmer thought only three hatched because he had the heat set too high. So he lowered the heat this year to what he had read it should be. I let him keep the thermometer/hygrometer for future hatchings. I also talked to him about Hyper and bringing her into the class. Since Hyper was so weak, he decided that she should stay at my home until she was stronger. As for the seven unhatched eggs, I opened them to see where in the development they died. One egg was not fertilized. The rest were almost full term. None of them had attempted to break through the air sac inside the egg. This meant they had died before the hatching process began. Most of them still had their yolk sacs outside their bodies and had not absorbed them yet. The low temperature throughout the incubating process was most likely the cause of the slow development and eventual death of the seven chicks. All seven chick remains are buried in one spot with the remaining sapling I had left to plant. This meant that Hyper could not die. Why? Because I had no more saplings left for head markers!

During the next few days Hyper improved immensely. But I could tell she was lonely. I tried playing music for her and even put a mirror in the box with her. Hyper liked the mirror and would try to nuzzle against it. She would then make this kind of cooing sound. She was not interested in an audio tape I made of her own voice. I even tried taping the chicks at the feed store, but she wasn't interested in them either.

As for eating and drinking on her own, well... I noticed that since Hyper was so small, she could not properly feed out of the dish Mr. Tranmer had supplied. His dish was meant for older, healthier chicks. I exchanged it for a little blue bowl and I tapped at it with my finger. Hyper came over and imitated the tapping. After a while she got food in her beak and learned that food was good. But she also slept in this food bowl.

The water dish Mr. Tranmer supplied was also too big. Hyper had a few bad "Swimming" experiences in it. Meaning, she fell into the bowl and couldn't get out. In the attempts to get out, she scooted herself, on her back, in the water around the bowl and continually got her face wet, frightening her even more. So Hyper refused to go near it, let alone drink from it. I tried a smaller bowl next, but Hyper put her beak in too far and got water in her nose and hated it. So I tried a small Rubbermaid food container lid. It was very shallow. I tapped at it. After a while Hyper got the idea. This shallow lid was perfect. It was not deep enough for her to get water in her nose.

On May 27 at 3:30pm, I caught Hyper drinking on her own - YEAH! She still was not drinking enough, so I continued to supplement with the dropper. Because she was now eating on her own, I only supplemented with water.

Hyper was still on the small side. I felt that she needed more protein in her diet. I went back to the feed store to ask about a higher protein feed. The feed store had turkey meal that has a protein content of 28% versus the chick meal of 18% Mr. Tranmer had been supplied. When I got home with some (a 10 lb. bag was the smallest I could buy) I noticed that the meal was rather large grained for Hyper. I ground up the turkey meal in my coffee grinder. Boy, did this food make a difference! Hyper started to grow and get stronger and more alert. I was getting more and more positive that this chick would make it. I had been worried about how attached Jessica got to the chick that I didn't see how attached I was becoming to this little ball of feathers. Everytime I would come in the room now, she would start to cheep a lot. I found it to be such a wonderful sound. What would we do if she too died?

Then Hyper started sneezing and shaking her head like she had something she was trying to get rid of. I had a bird antibiotic called Tetracycline on hand from my Robin visitor. I started the chick on this and emailed the person that was helping me. This person came through in the nick of time. He said that this chick most likely developed infectious bronchitis and that the antibiotic I was giving her would most likely do the trick. He said to keep and eye on the chick and keep it quiet. If the chick did not improve I was to change to another antibiotic he told me about. I believe that if I had not started the medicine when I did, Hyper may not have made it. She was still so very weak and an infection like that could take hold and do much damage in just a matter of hours.

The children at school wanted to see the chick. They had heard a lot about her and had seen photos that I had taken of Hyper. Photos and real life are not the same when it comes to a chick that is soft and fluffy. They wanted the chick. Mr. Tranmer even said that one of the children had gotten very upset to hear that Hyper was sick. Mr. Tranmer and I agreed that Hyper should not have too much excitement until she was better. He did ask me to bring Hyper in only for show and tell that day. We both felt it was important for the children to see that even though she was sick, she was going to be ok. To transport Hyper to and from school safely and warmly I used Jessica's tummy heating pad. This pad is activated with a metal disk that is inside a gel-like bag that is also inside a material covering. It is only about 6" across but would keep the heat for quite a while. I put it under the cloth that I had placed into the box earlier for Hyper to have a better footing. The woodchips weren't good enough for her to walk around properly. The pad kept a 95 degree heat temperature. The kids thought it was neat for Hyper to have a "water bed"! Mr. Tranmer and I had not thought of the heating pad in this way and it had us laughing for quite a while. What a spoiled little chick this was!

While Hyper was at school the kids were excited and noisy and Hyper was not lonely. I asked Mr. Tranmer what he thought of Hyper. Did she look ok? Mr. Tranmer did not think she looked very good. Her head looked funny and she was very small for her age. Of course, this discouraged me. Then I asked his assistant about Hyper. His assistant said that the chick looked just about right for her age compared to the chicks last year and was amazed at how much Hyper had grown. Phew! Maybe Hyper would be ok after all.

Now I could not wait until I could leave Hyper at school with the kids. After seeing their faces and seeing the way Hyper reacted to them I knew it would be better if Hyper could stay. Mostly for Hyper as she wouldn't be so lonely. But Hyper still needed attention during the afternoon and evening hours when there would not be anyone there for her. So Back to my house for a few more days of rest and medication.

On May 30, Friday, Hyper started peeping louder whenever I came in. When I placed my hand into the box slowly, Hyper would come over and nudge it like she hadn't seen me for years. When I stirred my finger in the bowl, Hyper would come running from wherever she was and jump into the food bowl and peck next to my fingers as if saying "Mine, Mine, Mine."

By May 31, whenever I put my hand on the bottom of the box, palm up, Hyper would jump onto it. She would make the same cooing-like sound she did when she was next to the mirror. Then after leaning against my arm Hyper would peck at my thumb playfully.

I learned that Hyper's feces told me how well Hyper was doing. If they were really dry, she needed more water supplemented. By this time though, she was drinking and eating on her own. So I just tapped at the water bowl more often for her to drink. Then on Sunday, June 1st, I noticed a buildup of stuff on Hyper's bottom. My first guess was either an umbilical cord or feces build up. I had a nagging feeling that Hyper should get rid of it soon. I emailed the ever so patient but very helpful person on the Internet about my find and thoughts. I knew it was late that evening and that I would not get a response until the following day. By then, Hyper would be at the school.

On June 2, I brought in the chick with a screen lid I had made for the box. I had built it to help keep the chick in - but mostly for keeping little hands out. It was a piece of 1/4" holed screen that I stapled with heavy duty staples to a wood frame I had screwed together. Then I placed Duct tape over the edges to prevent cuts from the sharp edges of the screening. The lid would slide on the top of the box over the outside edges. This would make it easy to put on and take off.

On June 3, before I went to pick up Jessica at school I received an answer from my "teacher" on the internet. He said what Hyper had was a feces build up and if I did not get rid of it soon, it could close off the opening and the chick would die. He told me to dampen it and it may just come off. Or I would have to cut it off, gently. So after school when the children were gone - and with the help of Kate, I cut off the buildup ever so carefully. This seemed to do the trick. The rest then seemed to wipe off. The chick still trusted me implicitly and remained still in my hands the entire time. So Hyper faced another hurdle and made it over safely. Who said cats were the only ones with nine lives?

Hyper had grown immensely in the two days at school. On June 4, 11 days old, she tried to jump high. She even tried to kick me when I was attempting to change her water and food. It almost seemed like she was playing although this move resembled a defensive move that roosters use in fights. Could "she" be a "he"? Then Hyper immediately came over for a snuggle and have her chest pet as if to say, “I was just playing." From that point on, whenever I showed up, Hyper would run from where she was to me and demanded to have her chest pet. I talked Mr. Tranmer in to coming over to the box after school one day and had him place his hand into the box. Hyper came over and jumped into his hand. Not everyone has the ability to have the trust of animals, yet he did. And the look on his face was a look I will always remember. He then pet her and smiled from ear to ear.

I got to baby sit over the weekend of June 7 & 8th. I changed the food bowl to a larger bowl as the blue one was now too small for her to "sleep" in. I also got a round metal food bowl with the standard feeder lid from the feed store. I had hoped to get her used to the feeders she'll be facing wherever she ends up. I also put back the red water bowl that Hyper was very leery of. After a while, she drank from it. So away came the Rubbermaid lid.

Now anxiety set in for me. Where would Hyper live after the class project was over? Most people do not seem to think that far ahead. Mr. Tranmer usually returned the chicks to the feed store he got them from. Now Mr. Tranmer had only one chick and it did not seem fair to Hyper after being so close to a human to go someplace where there wouldn't be that human connection. And I selfishly did not want to know that she was going somewhere that she would eventually be eaten. Fortunately, one of the other parents in the class decided to take her. They already had a few chickens and would take good care of Hyper. They were a little concerned about what kind of chicken Hyper was. They hoped she was not a meat chicken like the Cornish Crosses they had been given about 12 weeks earlier. This kind of chicken grows soo fast and so fat that by the time they are 12 weeks old, they need to become someone's dinner or they slowly die as they can no longer get up to feed themselves. This breed of chicken was made for eating and not for egg laying. So I called the feed store where Mr. Tranmer had gotten the eggs. I was told that Hyper was a White Leghorn. This meant she was not a "meat" chicken and would most likely live a long life at her new home. I gladly gave her new family the remainder of the Turkey meal which was already half gone! My, what a hungry bird. I hadn't realized how much she had eaten.

Jessica was to go to a birthday party at the house where Hyper now lived the very next day, a Saturday. My whole family was invited to stay. The children that came to the party were mostly from the Kindergarten class and were anxiously waiting to see Hyper. Finally the mother, Denise, brought out Hyper and put her in the enclosure for the chickens. Their whole yard was fenced in by a 5 foot fence. The chicken coop was a corner fenced-in with two foot high chicken wire. The other chickens came over to look at Hyper. She was afraid and looked at me as if to say the other chickens were aliens. So she hid in the tall grass and bushes. When it was time for our family to leave I heard Hyper squawking in fear. I looked over and saw a little girl struggling to hold Hyper. Then the little girl dropped Hyper on the outside of the chicken coop. Hyper was VERY scared. I was across the yard already near the gate to the car ready to leave, but I ran all the way to the frightened little Hyper and placed my hands on the ground in front of her. She climbed onto my hands quickly and huddled next to me until she stopped shaking. When I tried to put her back in the pen, she refused to get off my hands. She kept leaning against my hands directing herself away from the pen. Finally I gently pushed her off and told her goodbye. Yes, I had to admit I had tears in my eyes. And why not? This was a little baby of mine.

That Monday, Denise told Mr. Tranmer and then me that Hyper was really funny. Hyper had escaped the coop and was following Denise's sister around. Hyper would rub up against the sister to get her to pet Hyper's chest. Hyper would sit on her hand too. If no one was in the yard and then someone appeared, Hyper would come out of nowhere running and start rubbing up against the person for attention. Denise really likes her name and liked the way she loves attention and loves to get her chest pet. Denise was going to keep her away from the other chickens to keep her tame and gentle like she was already. If she grew up to be a large chicken, Denise would want her to be a friendly one around her children.

FOLLOW UP:

On July 29th I went back to Denise's house for a visit. Jessica and Kate and I all went to visit them and Hyper. Hyper definitely was a female. She had grown up nicely, although she was still on the small side for her age. Denise said that there was a week where she couldn't give Hyper the attention Hyper wanted and needed to remain tame and now has become a true chicken. She won't let anyone pet her anymore. Denise said that Hyper really did seem lonely and that Hyper did not like to associate with the older chickens. Raccoons had attacked Denise's other older chickens and had gotten two of them. At that time, she was still bringing Hyper in at night - phew! But now Hyper wouldn't go inside at night. So Denise now walks her dog around and through the pen so the dog's scent is in the area hoping to deter the raccoons. So far it has worked. Since Denise was down two chickens she decided to get two more chicks. They are about three weeks younger than Hyper. At first Hyper didn't know what to think of them. Then after a while the chicks decided that Hyper was Mommy. A little while later Hyper decided she was mommy too. Now Denise says that Hyper will get between the two resident kittens and the chicks when the kittens want to play. Hyper will even defend the chicks from the dog when Denise brings the dog around before bed to leave the dog's scent. Denise says that Hyper puts up a good squalking letting everyone know of her displeasure at the dog or kittens invading her territory.

I took some photos initially while I was there. But the kids and the dog and Denise were all around me so Hyper wouldn't come near. Just before it was time to go, I went back with my camera freshly loaded, I knealt down and just talked to Hyper. She had run away with the chicks into the bushes to the back of the pen as I came, but slowly poked her head out the more I talked. As she slowly came out further I started to take some pictures. She gave me the look like she remembered the sound of the camera, cocking her head from side to side. She got very close to me all the while looking me over. I seemed to see recognition in her eyes, yet her motherly feelings were very stong and didn't want "her babies" near me. That was fine. I kept my distance and let her stay in charge. Needless to say, I shot the whole role of film. She had grown up and was happy. That was everything I could have ever hoped for. I said my goodbyes again, and turned to leave. This time, with a much happier feeling inside that she had definitely found herself a wonderful home and family to care for.

This hatching ended with some sadness and much happiness. Most hatchings end in sorrow and hopefully some happiness. But if a child cannot deal with the losses, it could possibly be too hurtful. I suggested tadpoles as a class science project for Mr. Tranmer to try next time. The children cannot pet the tadpoles so they cannot create a bond. And they are fairly certain to live. The magic of these fish-like creatures getting legs and losing it's fishy tail is an awsome site. Then you can release the tadpoles into the pond you got them from. I found and temporarily caught a huge tadpole, about 5 inches long, in one of our local rivers and Jessica and Kate were both extremely fascinated with it. It had just started to develop its legs. After we had watched him, in the clear bucket we had brought for catching fish and releasing them, we released the tadpole. It swam and rested on top of a rock that was under the water and seemed to stare at us with as much curiosity as we had in him. I was quizzed by Jessica about frogs and tadpoles all the way home.

I hope our story has helped you in some ways. Just remember a few things:

1. Place the incubator in a location away from drafts or direct sunlight. Both have a drastic impact on the incubator's ability to maintain a constant temperature inside it.

2. Keep the humidity as 50% throughout the incubation until the 18th day. Then raise it to 65%. This change occurs when increasing the surface area of water in the unit. Do use 100 degree water.

3. The temperature at the level of the middle of the eggs should be 100 degrees. The eggs should be rotated at least 3 times during the day, or at least an odd number of times so that the same side is not down for night. This will make sure the egg yolk does not stick to the inside of the egg. The eggs should have been placed in turner with small end down if one was used. It should be removed on the morning of the 19th day. The air bubble they breathe from is at the large end of the egg. After 18 days, do not turn the eggs and do not open the incubator until the chicks have hatched. .

4. Once the eggs hatch, hopefully no longer than 12 hours from the start of their hatching process, keep them in the incubator until they are dry. Then move them to a box with a lamp for heat that keeps the area under the light no hotter than 95 degrees. Make sure the chicks have room enough to move away from the heating area if they feel like they are too hot. Also keep their food and water out of the heat and their food dry and their water clean.

5. They need to drink soon after hatching, but do not need to eat until 36 - 48 hours after hatching. If they don't seem interested in the water or food, tap the bowls with your finger and they should immitate you. Then they will find out they can get water or food this way. If they still do not drink, an eye dropper full of water will help you to get water into their little tummies. Remember to hold them firmly, but very gently. Continue the tapping of their bowls until they start to drink and or eat on their own.

6. If the chicks seem to be drying out during the hatching, try to wet the eggs with sterilized incubator temperature water. This can prevent them from sticking to their shells. You can either use a spray bottle or your clean fingertips to drip the water onto the egg edges.

7. If you ever have to help a chick finish hatching, it will most likely die as it probably already had something wrong with it. We were very lucky with Hyper. But it was a last ditch effort in our hatching. I hope you won't ever reach that point.

These points are not the only ones to be aware of, make sure you read the directions that came with your incubator so you know how it works. I have listed some places below to visit on the Web. You can also try your local library as they may have a book I couldn't find that would help you. Most of all, trust your instincts.

I hope my experience can help to guide you through your future hatchings. Maybe it can also help you to figure out what you need to do if you run into a problem I did not have. Good luck.

Places for help :

http://www.mes.umn.edu/Documents/D/l/Di0631.htm Minnesota Extension Service at the University of Minnesota. This is an article titled "Hatching and Brooding Small Numbers of Chicks".

http://www.ameraserve.com/chicken/links.html The Poultry Exchange, and this should give you a list of places that you could possibly get more information.

http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~ifza664/hatch.html This is the University of Texas and is a paper titled Hatching and Rearing Chicks. Their main chicken page is http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~ifza664/Index.html#main. There is also a page called The Chicken Page at http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~ifza664/aol.html. Then their page that lists other links is http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~ifza664/connect.html.

Also try the American Online Farm animal area, keyword Farm Animals if you are one of their users. Then hunt for the chicken area and find the FAQ (Frequently asked questions) file and download it, chickfaq.asc. This has quite a bit of information in it. This was one place I didn't find when I searched. If all else fails, try a search for chicks or hatching in a search engine.

Good Luck.