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You want to hatch your own chickens, you say? After all, what can be more fun than holding that little ball of fluff?
But where should you even begin?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of incubating, you have to ask yourself, “Are chickens right for me?”
While I believe that everyone could benefit from having fresh eggs every morning . . . it’s all fun and games until someone has to clean out the chicken coop. There’s no two ways around this; it will be a commitment. It will cost you time and money. Nothing could be worse than getting chickens (or any animal) and finding out that you have neither the time nor the energy to commit to them.
Still not sure? Take this Caring for Chickens quiz before you buy or hatch a single chick.
All right, so you’ve decided you’re ready to take the leap.
How Many Eggs Would You Like to Incubate at a Time?
Incubators can range from the small—housing as few as seven eggs (in Brinsea’s Mini Advance, for example)—to the commercial varieties that hold thousands.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind with all incubators. Only 80 percent (even in the best of circumstances) of your eggs are likely to hatch, and if your eggs have been sent to you by post, that number will potentially drop to around 50 percent. So you may want to have an incubator that houses a few more eggs than you might think you need to ensure that you have as many chicks as you want. I have had 100 percent success rate with the Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO hatching, so be sure you can handle extra chickens.
Watching the Process
The visibility of the incubator’s interior might not seem like a big deal, but if you have kids or you are using the incubator in a classroom, this will be. Also, to keep the humidity constant (which I will talk about further down the page), you don’t want to lift the lid in the last few days of the hatching process.
Here is a newly hatched chick in the Octagon 20 ECO egg incubator. I was able to clearly see all chicks hatching without having to lift the lid.
Controlling Temperature and Humidity
As I began researching chickens and the best way to hatch them, two themes kept rising up: temperature and humidity. Both of these need to remain constant. The moisture level in an incubator should be about 50 to 55 percent relative humidity, with an increase to about 65 percent for the last three days of incubation. The temperature should be between 99 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit. (99.5 is often considered to be ideal.) During the last couple days of incubation, the lid should NOT BE REMOVED!
So ask yourself, “Do I want to use a separate thermometer I will need to keep an eye on myself? Do I want to add water manually?” or “Do I want to set it and forget it?” If you want to set it and forget it, you would choose an incubator with a digital thermometer and/or humidity gauge. (This does add to the cost.)
Egg Turning
Wait . . . What? I have to turn the eggs?
A lot of people just starting out don’t realize that incubating eggs cannot stay in one position. A good brooding hen will do this out of instinct, but alas, you are now the mother hen. Turning the eggs stops the embryo from sticking to the shell and leads to more successful hatching. The downside of most homemade incubators is that you will have to hand turn them at least three times a day. (Ideally eggs should be turned once an hour, but that is not always feasible.) I have had 100 percent success rate in hatching with turning just three times a day with the Octagon 20 ECO (Note: I don’t physically turn every egg with Octagon 20. The octagonal design allows all the eggs in the incubator to be turned manually at one time without having to turn individual egg)
So the questions become “Will you remember to turn the eggs? Do you even want to have to turn the eggs? Will you remember when you last turned the eggs? Will you remember not to turn the eggs two days before they hatch?”
There are incubators available that will automatically do it all for you, while some leave you to be the mother hen. You can buy a turning cradle separately with the Octagon 20 or at the same time.
Cost
The more technology incorporated into the incubator, the greater the cost. Start with what you are willing to spend. Then answer the above questions. Your choices basically boil down to make your own, semiautomatic, and the all-inclusive, fully automated egg hotel. Below is a link to a review of the incubator I chose, the Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO, as well as a link to homemade incubators you can build yourself.
Happy hatching!
Homemade Incubators Brinesa Octagon 20 ECO Manual Turn Egg Incubator
Disclosure: I receive compensation from affiliates whose products I review. I test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. I am independently owned and the opinions expressed here are my own.
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