Hatching eggs

[tennilleromaniuk]

can someone please walk me through the process of ordering hatching eggs and how to care for them.
I know I will need a incubator.

 

[Pyxis]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

This article should help you out

 

[blayt90]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

This article should help you out

what they said.

 

[tennilleromaniuk]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

This article should help you out

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/

This article should help you out

thank you so much!! extremely helpful. How many eggs should i plan on actually hatching, the article says about 50% is that true?? how many hatching eggs would you order then if that is true?

 

[Pyxis]

For shipped eggs yes, 50% is generally considered a good hatch rate. If you're picking them up locally then you'll probably have a better hatch rate. So if you're having them shipped in, plan on a 50% hatch rate. Could be more or less, shipped eggs are always a gamble.

 

[Jetblack2004]

thank you so much!! extremely helpful. How many eggs should i plan on actually hatching, the article says about 50% is that true?? how many hatching eggs would you order then if that is true?

For shipped eggs, 50% is considered lucky. So yes, that is true. It depends on the space you have. Even if there is a 50% hatch rate, make sure you're prepared because there IS a small chance they will all hatch. If you were to get 12 eggs, you wouldn't want all of them to hatch and not have space . I'd say start out small.

 

[oregonkat]

Here's my two cents: as you are just starting out, dont spend a whole lot of money on shipped eggs, I have spent a small fortune on them and now I own VERY expensive chickens due to the pretty low hatch rate of shipped eggs. Try and get local eggs, even if they are a barnyard mix and start there. That way, if your first hatch is not great, at least you have not lost too much in money and emotion, because this is a very emotional thing to do, trust me! You can learn all about the intricacies of your incubator and get it just where you want it to be so your subsequent hatches can be great, even with shipped eggs.

Make sure you do invest in independent and reliably calibrated thermometers and hygrometers. That way you are not stressed about wondering if the humidity and temp in your incubator are actually right.

Good luck and enjoy this process, it is an extraordinary thing to witness and totally addicting, so watch out of that too!!