Before you start you need to consider...

Having an incubator in the classroom is big responsibility. I found the following BC SPCA position statement after starting the incubation of the chicken eggs in my class. 

http://goo.gl/DLFYXl

The BC SPCA has the following concerns when hatching eggs in the classroom:

• Hatching eggs in an incubator is not natural.
  
• How do you know that the egg(s) are fertilized before putting them in the incubator?
  
• Eggs are a commondity - a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold. Is this what you are discussing?
• What happens if the power goes out? Do you have a backup power system? The temperature and relative humidity would change with no power.
• Can you garantee the eggs will hatch while you are at school? What happens if they hatch a Friday night and there is no one there to look after them until Monday morning?
• Does the teacher have expertise in hatching eggs?
• If you are video streaming -- why can you not put the camera(s) on the farm?
• The 'cute' factor. All new born animals are cute and this is engaging -- but how is this educational?

These are some of the questions a school and teacher must consider before starting a hatching program in the classroom. 

The following is a response to a ≈2005 'feel good' news paper article about hatching eggs in the classroom. The article was in the Peace Arch News. Sorry I do not have the exact date or link to the article.
  

There is a delicate balance when it comes to the use of animals in the classroom. Though the intentions to give students hands on experience are good, underlying lessons about devaluing animals for human benefit purposes can also be learned. Is raising chicks in an artificial environment really necessary to demonstrate life cycles to preschoolers? Could they not learn this through a video and a visit to a farm? A mother hen cares for her eggs very differently than a human does with an incubator. 

Understanding the care and natural instincts of a mother hen with her chicks is an important part of the equation completely underestimated when hatching chicks in an incubator. Yet it can be more compelling than the actual hatching, which may or may not happen when the students are at school. 

If we continue to use animals for science, in zoos and aquariums under the guise of education, are we reinforcing the idea that it is ok to deprive animals of a natural environment, family bonding, etc as long as humans are entertained and are “learning”. Is providing the students with a live action “birth” more important than the lives put at risk through incubation? It may be more exciting, but what is the real message. 

Encouraging students to think critically about how and why we use animals in society as well as developing empathy for animals by thinking about these situations from an animal’s perspective, might be a more educational experience and fit in more directly with the new BC curriculum. 

The BC SPCA’s position on hatching and breeding programs in the classroom states: “The BC SPCA opposes breeding and hatching programs in schools that include incubation and artificial environments. These animals require specialized care and a calm environment generally not provided in a classroom.” 

Animals are such an important part of our lives; the educational lessons we pass along to future generations should not be clouded with lessons we have inherited from the past. 

Paula Neuman, Humane Education Supervisor, BC SPCA

What are the learning outcomes for the activity? Is there a better way of accomplishing the outcomes that will benefit the students and not harm the animals?