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Egg Hatching Guide

The following information serves as a helpful guide based on techniques that we use successfully during our hatching season. This is not an exhaustive instruction guide. We strongly encourage you to read and follow the instruction manual for your incubator and to conduct your own research. Failure to properly incubate your eggs will result in an unsuccessful hatch.

 

As a reminder, we CANNOT and do NOT guarantee hatch rates on our hatching eggs.

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  • Your incubator needs to be running at consistent levels (temp, humidity) for at least 24 hours before you set your eggs. Check your Incubator manual for specifics.

  • Allow shipped eggs to rest, with the pointed side down, for 12-24 hours after they arrive. Before setting the eggs candle them and check for loose air cells. (Discard any that have loose air cells)

  • It is a good idea to use two thermometers and hygrometers just in case one malfunctions, we prefer ones with a digital read out as we find they give a more accurate temperature reading.

Day 1 - 17

  • Keep your incubator at 99.5°F if it has a fan (highly recommended),The acceptable range is between 99-100°F. If you are using a still-air incubator (no fan), your range can be 100-101°F

  • Humidity should be kept somewhere between 30%-55%. You will know you have the right humidity levels based on your air cell growth when you candle on day 7. 

  • Eggs need to be turned throughout the incubation process. We highly recommend using an automatic egg turner. Be sure to monitor that your egg turner is functioning properly.  The eggs should be set according to your incubator’s instructions. If turning by hand, eggs should be turned an odd number of times throughout the day, (3,5,7) always making sure that the side of the egg which was up at the start of the day is the side facing down by the end of the day (bed time) Do not leave eggs unturned for longer than 8 hours.

  • You can begin candling your eggs on day 7. You are looking for blood vessels and the embryo (which will look like a small dark spot).  By day 10 you will see movement within the egg. As the embryo develops and takes up more space in the egg, less light can shine through and most of the egg will appear dark. By day 18 you should still be able to see the air cell and nothing else.

  • For Marans eggs or eggs with a heavy bloom it will be very difficult to see early development. You can tell there is life within the egg by gauging the air cell, if the air cell is developing at a healthy rate along with your other eggs odds are there is a developing embryo inside.

Day 18 - 20

  • Stop turning the eggs and remove the egg turner if using one.

  • Candle your eggs and discard any that did not develop or that died during incubation. If you have any eggs that you are unsure of it will not hurt to leave them in the incubator.

  • Increase the humidity to 65-70% and put your incubator into lockdown.

  • Leave the eggs alone and whatever you do Do not open your incubator until after your chicks have hatched and completely dried off. 

  • Opening the incubator while you have pipped and hatching eggs will draw out the humidity causing greater risk of the unhatched egg membranes to dry and tighten around the chicks preventing them from turning and unzipping out of the egg.

Day 21 (Hatch day!)

  • Leave the hatched chicks and unhatched eggs alone!

  • Allow time for all chicks to hatch before opening the incubator.

  • The chicks will not all hatch at the same time. The early hatchers will be okay while the rest of the eggs hatch. Chicks hatch with enough nutrients to sustain them for the first 3 days of life. You are only harming the unhatched eggs by opening the incubator too early.

  • Once all the hatched chicks are completely dry and fluffy, they can be moved into their brooder!

  • We always candle unhatched eggs to check for signs of life before completely discarding the eggs.

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