Beginner!

[JBirchall]

Hi,
I work on a dairy farm and we have about 30 chickens... I'm hoping to start a hatching program but have no idea where to begin.
Help?

 

[abanjaf]

Hi there and welcome! Need more info! What's the purpose of your hatching program? Do you want to breed specific breeds of chickens to sell or raise? Breed layers to sell the eggs? What did you have in mind? What breeds of chicken do you currently have and I assume you have roosters? What is your main purpose? Would love to help if I can

 

[JBirchall]

The dairy farm is a full functioning outdoor ed program so we have continuous amounts of kids here. As part of their program, we breed cows and currently have over 50 new calves - they are very cute.
I'd like to start the same sort of "life cycle" with the chickens... at the moment we do not have any roosters but I am looking at getting some (obviously for the breeding to begin).
The chickens have been rescued from a battery and I am not entirely sure what breed they are... I am not so concerned on what breed they are or their laying ability because we do not use them to sell eggs or anything like that... They pretty much have a very easy life just eating scraps and sleeping.
With the hatching, we would keep the females for laying and most likely sell any roosters.
Hopefully this helps you!!

 

[abanjaf]

Do you want to use the hens you have now and just obtain roosters? Or start off with some fresh hens? Are all 30 hens housed together? If not, how many to a coop/run? If you want good egg fertility, you'll have to have a separate area for one rooster and 4-5 hens, etc. I imagine that you would want to use an incubator instead of using a broody hen (also without knowing what kind of chickens you have, some breeds really don't go broody). With an incubator, you can take the eggs out and candle them to see the developing embryo. My kids love this, it's like seeing a perfect little world in there. So, getting a rooster or two and an incubator (or two) should definitely be on your list. Where are you located? Do you have plans for what you're going to do with all the chicks once they hatch? You'll of course need to have a brooder set up for when chicks hatch. I use the supersize plastic bins from Wal-Mart with wire mesh over the top and a heat lamp, thermometer, etc. I could actually write a book here, but will wait for more questions

 

[peachlover]

I would get a Genesis Hovabator 1588 and put some eggs in it, and learn as you go.

 

[JBirchall]

Probably just obtain the roosters and use the hens we already have. At the moment all of the hens live in one big area together, but I was thinking of making a coop for the rooster + 'x' amount of hens.
We would definately use incubators so that the kids can monitor the growth and progress of the eggs.
I am located in Melbourne.
To a certain extent, we will keep the hens and sell the roosters.

Is it as simple as just putting the rooster in with the hens? Or do the hens have "seasons"?
How do you know if the egg is fertilized or not?

 

[babsbag]

Hens don't have a "season" but it is my understanding that the eggs are usually the most viable in the spring, but people hatch just about whenever they get eggs.

To know if an egg is fertile before incubating is not possible, but you can see if the eggs you collect and eat are fertile by looking for a bullseye on the yolk. If they are fertile then most likely the ones you collect for hatching will be. You can candle the egg after 7-10 days in the incubator and at that time you will see veins starting to form if the eggs are fertile and incubating properly.

Here is a picture of the bullseye.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

 

[abanjaf]

If candling light-colored eggs, then I'll candle as early as Day 3. The "spiderweb" of veins forming is usually apparent by then. If candling darker eggs, I'll wait until Day 7 (some of those olive and chocolate Maran eggs can be quite tricky to see through. I candle often, I find it increases your candling skills. When collecting your eggs for incubation, you can store eggs for 7-10 days (I don't really recommend longer than 7 days though) in a cool spot, pointy-side down, and rotate the eggs a couple times a day. Here's a link to candling pictures. I just use a cheap LED light in a dark room, but the brighter the light the better.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=230