Hatching Eggs

[lmdengler]

I am planning ahead! I live in the northeast which is an important fact. First - I would like to hatch chickens. Our weather changes soon to cold then bitter cold then cold again then spring. When would you suggest I incubate eggs and then raise them in the cellar and then move them outside. I thought I better carefully plan this out. Now don’t laugh - but I am trying to put this into a project plan so that I start the process at the right time. I’d like the babies to transition from the incubator, to the cellar, to outside without having full grown birds in the cellar because I started too soon. Does this make sense?

 

[flowerbug]

Start the incubating on November 1st, that will hatch on December 22, stay under a heat lamp for 3 months then go out into the coop on May 22

 

[flowerbug]

I live in alaska BTW

 

[tjb]

Start the incubating on November 1st, that will hatch on December 22, stay under a heat lamp for 3 months then go out into the coop on May 22

Set December 1st will hatch approximately December 22nd...

 

[tjb]

I live in alaska BTW

I would just research a bit for the brooding and heat lamp...
at hatch, chicks need to stay under the lamp at a certain temp then gradually lower the temperature as they feather out.
I have mine off the heat lamp by the time all the baby down is gone. If your cellar stays bitter cold, then heat lamp may be needed just to give an area for the pullets to go to if they want. if you give them a large enough area to wander, you will see them move farther and farther away from the lamp. That is when I begin to move the lamp higher away from the ground. Hope this helps.

 

[lmdengler]

It really does. I am hoping I will be successful with this adventure.
Typically - our Upstate NY December weather is in the 20's-30's. January bites down to below 0. My plan is to have my friend and her two little boys hatch them in their living room (Mid January), then move the to their cellar under a heat lamp (cellar temp is 55-60) and keep them until mid-April. Then I will take them and keep them in my garage from April until May. Then move them to an outside coop. Does this seem like a good plan?