Do you know what you need to hatch your own baby chicks? If not, read on. If items you will need may be obvious, may I encourage you to give thought to a few details when preparing to incubate chicken eggs.
4 Items to Hatch Baby Chicks
- Hatching Eggs
- Egg Candler
- Incubator
- Brooder (for chicks after they hatch)
Hatching Eggs
Yes, to hatch chicks you need hatching eggs. I am sure you all are aware. Let’s consider, for a minute, where you will get chicken eggs.
4 Places to Obtain Fertile Hatching Eggs
- Hatcheries
- Private Breeders
- Local Private Breeders
- From your own Chickens
Hatcheries
Commercial operations often offer many different breeds to choose from, both hatching eggs and chicks. If you are looking for a variety to hatch, here is where you often get the most choices. Sometimes the quality of the breed may not be top notch as hatcheries often go for quantity over quality. If you are not planning to show your birds, or breed your birds to a breed standard and want a pretty back yard flock, consider this option.
Private Breeders
Private breeders offer a smaller selection of breeds., but there may be several to choose from. Another option is ordering from different smaller breeders. This can be coordinated so that the hatching eggs arrive at the same time.
Local Private Breeders
If you find a local private breeder producing the breed of chicken you are looking for, you will not have to have your eggs shipped. This should potentially should increase the number of chicks hatched. Shipping hatching eggs can reduce the viability. The local breeder hopefully will package the eggs similar to if they were shipping them. Even a car ride can cause the eggs to be shaken up a bit.
From your own chickens
If you have a rooster, most likely you will have fertile eggs, needed to hatch chicken eggs. It is possible for a rooster to be infertile, but if so, you have the option to find a different rooster. The way to find if your rooster is fertilizing eggs is incubate them.
If you would like to learn more about hatching chicken eggs amd other homesteading practices consider joining the Facebook group, Hatching Eggs, Ideas, and Homesteading Practices.
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Incubator
Incubators imitate a broody hen to the best of technologies ability. There are many to choose from in today’s market. Some are produced in the USA and others are imported. Incubators come with different prices tags and corresponding functions. Often the more automated the process the higher the price. Particular brands carry a higher price, but with that comes an expectation of superior performance.
If you are interested in hatching a large number of eggs at one time as in hundreds, investing in a cabinet incubator may be the route you choose to go.
Features of Incubators: Air quality, humidity, and turning the eggs are all critical for proper incubation.
Fans
Forced air meaning an incubator has a fan moving the air around in the incubator. This feature promotes incubator air to be a consistent temperature throughout. It also pulls in air from any available air vents.
Humidity
The humidity levels are controlled by adding water. Tools are available to automate that process. Or another feature may be a exterior port to add water so the incubator does not need to be opened when adding water. A hen will generally get off her next one time per day so I am not convinced that opening a lid to add water is a terrible detriment to hatching success. In fact, there is a newer incubator on the market that can be programmed to intentionally cool the eggs one time a day.
Turners
A tray attached to a motor will turn eggs for you. If an incubator does not have an automatic turner you are responsible for turning the eggs approximately 6 times a day. Many incubators can be fitted with a turner. However, a draw back is the number of eggs that can be fit into the incubator at one time. As an example, one of the incubators I use is set to turn around 9 eggs, but I can fit around 25 eggs with out the turner
Egg Candler
From setting the eggs to trouble shooting a hatch once it has ended, an egg candler with be most useful. When I started I used a bright small flashlight and went to a light marketed for the sole purpose of candling eggs. I am all about using what you have and when I started a small bright flashlight was what I had. A candler plugs into an outlet instead of using batteries as a small flashlight would. I now use a small bright flashlight once again. I have at times used the light on my phone. If you are interested in saving money, use what you have on hand.
Brooder with Food and Water
Once a chick hatches and dries, they will need to move into a brooder. Brooders come in different forms, material and shapes. On a homestead they often are a product of using what one has available and develop out of creativity. There are commercial brooders that can be purchased at stores. They all serve the same purpose, to provide dry shelter, heat, food, water, and protection from predators.
Newly hatched chicks need to be provided with a heat source of 95 degrees in a shelter safe from predators. Dry clean bedding, clean fresh water, and chick starter should be in place near the heat source. The temperature in the room needs to be a match for the heat source. A pen that meets the above criteria will qualify as a brooder. What creative ideas have you seen, thought of and possibly used for a brooder? Leave a comment below.
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