Hatching questions

[EverV]

Hello! I doubt I'll be hatching any time soon (soon meaning under three years), but I'm still curious. First: How many eggs would you need to set in order to get between 3 and 5 pullets? And second, what's everyone's favorite relatively cheap (preferably under $100) incubator model? Thanks!

 

[Tre3hugger]

Hello! I doubt I'll be hatching any time soon (soon meaning under three years), but I'm still curious. First: How many eggs would you need to set in order to get between 3 and 5 pullets? And second, what's everyone's favorite relatively cheap (preferably under $100) incubator model? Thanks!

There is really no magic number, but you have to assume around half will be boys and half will be girls. It's probability though, so nothing is guaranteed. You may get 50/50 one hatch, all boys the next, all girls the next using the exact same incubation practices.
So the short answer is, if you want 5 girls, probably set at least 10 eggs. Maybe you will get lucky maybe not. Probably worth a try though!


The incubator I use is a bit above your price range. The brinsea mini advance ii. People rave about the Nurture Right 360 at $150. There are a myriad cheaper options on amazon. Some have great success with them, some not so much.

 

[mcdze]

hard to say, fill the incubator .. keep however many you can support and give the rest away, for breeds you know, like i know barred rocks, you can tell males and females from day 1 .. doesnt matter on incubator imo, its more in how you use it .. get an automatic one over 50 bucks and youll be good if its set up right ..

 

[DucksAreBest]

The Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 is a great incubator, but it is $150.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

You will save yourself a lot of grief by getting a good incubator. I have both the NR360 and the Brinsea Maxi II. I like both for different reasons. You can't beat the NR360 though for price value for what you get. It is around $150 as noted above. I got mine for $139 on Amazon a while back. The Brinsea was close to $300.
You will have to hatch about twice as many chicks as you want to get pullets, but that is no guarantee. I hatched silkies last year, and 11 out of 14 were boys!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

With cheap, you get what you pay. For. Under 100bucks probably won't be anything great.

Every pullet (statistically) has a brother, so you'll need a plan for those males