Good Time or Not?

[slivercove]

Im wondering is there a good time to start incubating eggs? Can we start in the middle of winter, but keep them in the house once they hatch and put them outside when the weather is nice? We have white leg horn hens and the rooster is a new Hampshire red.

 

[AmericanMom]

Im wondering is there a good time to start incubating eggs? Can we start in the middle of winter, but keep them in the house once they hatch and put them outside when the weather is nice? We have white leg horn hens and the rooster is a new Hampshire red.

If you have a heat source and can keep the ambient room temperature at around 75 then incubating in the winter isn't an issue. Chicks need for the first week 95 degree's then a decrease of 5 degrees each week.. Brooding indoors is completely the hatchers choice. You can keep them in the garage and have a successful brood.

I don't incubate in the winter just because our home heat is a wood stove, the incubator room would have to have a space heater to keep the temperature level and its to costly. I hatched out the last batch the end of Sept or first of Oct and they are all out in the Rabbit house after the first week. Its not completely enclosed ( other than chicken wire) but they are now without a heat lamp as of last week. There are 20+ so they are able to keep each other warm.

I don't see a problem with hatching in the winter and it gives you a good head start going into spring.. I always try and have some hatched out so they start laying around Feb or March

 

[blucoondawg]

I don't hatch in winter simply because I would have to keep the chicks indoors until fully grown and I cannot stand the smell of chicken in my house from even one hen I occasionally have to "hospitalize". Once I have a garage or a second coop set up then I'd try it if so inclined

 

[Percheron chick]

My flock was pretty much cleaned out by a bobcat a few Christmas' ago. Having severe chicken withdrawls, I picked up a batch of 25 a few days later. I had to keep them in the house because I have no garage or shed to keep them. It was messy and dusty. They were outside 24/7 by mid March. I had all the extras sold by mid April. If I had a better set up, I would raise chicks every winter on this same schedule to get in front of the backyard hen buyer.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Im wondering is there a good time to start incubating eggs? Can we start in the middle of winter, but keep them in the house once they hatch and put them outside when the weather is nice? We have white leg horn hens and the rooster is a new Hampshire red.

That's what I am doing. I will say it's a lot of hard work keeping up with the pens so that my "chicken room" doesn't smell like a barn. I just hope our winter breaks early and I am able to finish the coop before I have any roosters crowing...lol. There are people that think it's absolutely crazy. I think if you can maintain and don't mind the extra work, it's a personal decision that should be based on the keeper's abilities and room. I do have a safety net though if it gets to be too much. My sister and her man raise chickens (have for years) so I always have a place to send them if it gets intolerable. We are just starting our adventure into backyard chickens to have our own eggs (hatching chicks from my sister's hens) and doing it this way hopefully they will be starting or getting ready to start laying by spring versus waiting until spring and not having them even start until fall.

 

[Tatiana110]

I would also like to hatch chicks in December. But I am having trouble to find fertile eggs locally.

Tatiana

 

[AmericanMom]

I would also like to hatch chicks in December. But I am having trouble to find fertile eggs locally.

Tatiana

Have you tried Craigslist??

I am in Oregon and I usually advertise for fertile eggs but took my ad down last month due to molting, new layers etc.. I plan on putting it back up at the first of the year. Folks may have the eggs but figure because its winter its not worth keeping ads up

 

[Tatiana110]

Have you tried Craigslist??

I am in Oregon and I usually advertise for fertile eggs but took my ad down last month due to molting, new layers etc.. I plan on putting it back up at the first of the year. Folks may have the eggs but figure because its winter its not worth keeping ads up

yep, have been looking at craigslit for the last 2 months. no eggs offered, except one local chickens operation that offered chicks ($8/ea) and hatching eggs ($4/ea) and ships them for $45-100 It is a month old listing. They say to expect ~50% hatching rate. Too expensive! Plus they did not respond to my inquiry about eggs availability, I am guessing they may be on a break. For comparison, I can buy young pullets for $8 each here in the fall. but this will take away all the fun of raising them from eggs.

there are many more opportunities to buy eggs and small chicks in the USA, and shipping in not prohibitively expensive there. If there are eggs available in Seattle area, we can drive there and pick them up, as we are only 2 hrs away.

Most of the cities in our neighborhood prohibit roosters, so folks cannot offer fertile eggs, unless they have a farm status and can have hens and roosters. For example, our bylaws only allow us to have 12 birds but no rooster. Other places only allow one to have 3 hens. So we are lucky

Tatiana

 

[aart]

Problem I had last January was finding local eggs even being laid in the short days of winter...or if they were being laid, being gathered before they froze.