Hatching eggs for others?

[Drache]

Hey everyone. Newbie here.

I am getting my first chickens (BLRW bantys) in March, but a friend of mine just gave me a large cabinet-style incubator that she doesn't use. I was not planning to hatch out any eggs at all, but I'm itching to try out this incubator.

Unfortunately, I live in a subdivision and the chicks that are on their way to me are pretty much going to put me at my max. I wont even be able to keep a rooster here for fear of the crowing and alerting my neighbors. (boo!)

To get to the point, and provided that this incubator works, do you think other poultry owners might be interested in hatching services? I wouldn't be able to keep anything I hatched so I'd be happy to give them back, but it would be fun and experience-building for me.

Is this kind of service actually a thing?

Thanks!

 

[MrsBachbach]

Never heard of it as a business, but it sounds like an idea. I think there are many backyard poultry keepers that don't have incubators and would love to hatch some of their own flock. Of course, if things don't go well for whatever reason, it might be hard to collect any fee from them. Thats the thing about incubating, it could be infertile eggs, poor nutrition, disease or a fluctuating incubator that can result in poor hatches. You would likely have to work out a minimum fee and so much per hatched egg. Additionally, you would have to be very, very meticulous in cleaning and sanitizing after every hatch. Bringing eggs in from so many different flocks also brings disease from other flocks that can pass on to other chicks in the hatcher. That would make me hesitant to ever hatch someone else's eggs.

 

[Drache]

Never heard of it as a business, but it sounds like an idea. I think there are many backyard poultry keepers that don't have incubators and would love to hatch some of their own flock. Of course, if things don't go well for whatever reason, it might be hard to collect any fee from them. Thats the thing about incubating, it could be infertile eggs, poor nutrition, disease or a fluctuating incubator that can result in poor hatches. You would likely have to work out a minimum fee and so much per hatched egg. Additionally, you would have to be very, very meticulous in cleaning and sanitizing after every hatch. Bringing eggs in from so many different flocks also brings disease from other flocks that can pass on to other chicks in the hatcher. That would make me hesitant to ever hatch someone else's eggs.

I never even thought of actually charging for it. I actually just meant doing it for fun.

I see what you mean about cleaning thoroughly. I am pretty meticulous about quarantining anyways because of my exotic parrots.

 

[Flybybirds]

Hi! I saw your thread and thought I would give you some information from my personal experience.
I have a flock of my own and I do my own hatching in a Humidaire Incubator. Best ever. However a while back a friend of mine asked me to hatch out 20 eggs for her. She is very sanitary and I trusted her completely. Most of the chicks hatched. Not long after they began to die. Since I raise exotics also I sent one of the chicks to my vet for necropsy. My vet said it was a respiratory infection like a bronchitis and probably was passed from the hen to the eggs. Never realized! She told me what meds to give the babies in their water but most of them died. I had to use a very potent disinfectant my vet gave me and we also had to disinfect whole room where the incubators are kept. It was a horrible experience.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

I'm going to hatch eggs for 4H'ers That way they can get better quality than buying from a hatchery. But sanitizing between hatches is a must. The chicks will leave soon as hatched.