Setting Up Your Incubator
Success using an incubator isn’t guaranteed, especially with some of the cheaper models available. Getting good results at hatch time won’t just depend on your
Home > Incubation & Hatching
Articles and guides to help you incubate and hatch eggs, then raise your chicks successfully.
Articles are grouped as follows:
There are many reasons for incubating and hatching chicken eggs under a broody hen or artificially with an incubator. I have mostly hatched chicks using eggs from my hens as future replacements and to improve the bloodlines of the breeds I keep.
For other people, hatching chicks can be to start or expand a flock, to sell some birds to raise money for the ‘feed fund’ or for the experience of hatching chicks with children, perhaps as a school class project.
Incubating eggs is fascinating, and, incredibly, a fully formed chick can hatch after just 21 days of incubation. No wonder hatching your own has been so popular over the last decade.
The only caution, if you are a beginner, please make sure you plan for unwanted male chickens. This unsavoury topic isn’t usually mentioned, but you will get male and female chicks hatch in reality and may need to dispatch chickens you can’t keep or rehome. I encourage you to seek help from a local experienced poultry keeper if you need to do this for the first time.
Whether you are buying hatching eggs to incubate with an incubator or broody hen or getting day-old chicks to brood (much more common in the US where hatcheries send chicks by post), you will find everything you need here in the incubation, hatching and brooding category.
Incubating and hatching chicks is a lot of fun, but we can also run into problems along the way. These articles will help you to learn to:
Success using an incubator isn’t guaranteed, especially with some of the cheaper models available. Getting good results at hatch time won’t just depend on your
What is the correct incubation humidity for hatching eggs, and how do we measure it? How to get the right humidity for chicken, duck, goose & quail eggs.
What will you see candling eggs? Pictures and videos of candling chicken eggs at 7 & 14 days of incubation and a useful air sac development chart.
When things don’t go quite according to plan, try using this incubation troubleshooting guide to work out what went wrong.
In this guide, Gail Damerow will help us to understand why a chick can’t always make it out on its own, why it’s not usually a good idea to intervene, and if you do decide to assist, how to help a chick hatch.
The porosity of eggs varies with size, age and as the season progresses. This article describes egg incubation weight loss for setting the right humidity in your incubator.
The hatchability of chicken eggs is as essential for backyard chicken keepers as it is for commercial flocks, especially when you have a limited number of eggs from a rare breed or breed in numbers to produce a small number of birds for the show pen.
Some “How To” articles to help you with your hatching eggs.
We often take great care of incubation, trying to get as many chicks to hatch as possible, but how much attention do we give to
Do you need to clean hatching eggs? Experts disagree on whether it is necessary. I only wash very dirty eggs. This is how to clean eggs for incubation.
How to sell hatching eggs online. What can you earn? Where are the best places to sell and what guidelines should you follow? Includes tips for buying eggs.
You will need to set up a brooder for when your chicks hatch, and get them feeding!
Raising chicks that were hatched in an incubator. How to set up a brooder and heat lamp or panel to care for chicks hatched at home in easy steps.
Feeding chicks when there is no broody hen to take care of them and what you can feed in an emergency if you run out of chick crumbs.
A popular question from people incubating and hatching eggs is how to sex chicks? – how can you tell if they are male or female? Sexing chicks while young isn’t easy, but as they start to grow, there are some tell-tale signs to look out for.
If a hen goes broody, it is best to act quickly. There are three detailed articles to help you below:
A step-by-step guide to hatching eggs with a broody hen. Selecting the right breed and setting up a broody coop for her to incubate fertile eggs.
How to care for a broody hen raising chicks. Tips for rearing chicks with a broody hen and providing broody hen care.
How to break a broody hen? A hen may go broody and decide she wants to hatch some eggs out herself. Here’s how to stop a broody hen.
My review of the RCOM King Suro 20 Incubator, which compares features for the price with other incubators in this category.
Review of the RCOM 20 Incubator, available in three different models. I tested the RCOM with both chicken and duck eggs, and here’s what I found.
The Brinsea Hatchmaker can take around 40 eggs and a popular choice with poultry breeders to be used as a separate hatcher for hatching eggs.
I can recommend these books I have read. The banner link takes you to Amazon and also supports this website if you make a purchase :-)
The A-Z of all 93 standardised breeds plus information on Hybrids which are ideal for beginners.
General articles, guides, and information about raising backyard chickens at home or on an allotment.
Articles about incubating, hatching eggs and brooding your baby chicks.
From finding ex-battery hens to caring for their extra needs during Free Range retirement.
Articles on breeding chickens, including more advanced topics on the genetics of poultry.