How many chicks will you hatch in 2026?

[Tex452]

Winter eggs aren't always the most fertile, I've had amazing hatches with winter eggs and some not so amazing hatches.

Some came from young hens, and some I don’t know how well they were taken care of.
The ones I got from my son who has older hens hatched the best.

 

[servant_of_fluffs]

I'm going to hatch 3 batches in my 22 egg incubator. I usually get a horrible hatch rate, though, so I'm hoping for ...35?? I will only keep the pullets with muffs/beards and good combs for cold weather which means I'm probably going to end up with about 5 keepers.

Actually scratch that I'm hatching a shipped batch in April too lol. So... 40? hehhehehehhehehehe I'm going to be so excited when they hatch!!!!

 

[2ndTink]

I'm going to hatch 3 batches in my 22 egg incubator. I usually get a horrible hatch rate, though, so I'm hoping for ...35?? I will only keep the pullets with muffs/beards and good combs for cold weather which means I'm probably going to end up with about 5 keepers.

Actually scratch that I'm hatching a shipped batch in April too lol. So... 40? hehhehehehhehehehe I'm going to be so excited when they hatch!!!!

Ooh, upping the numbers and you hadn't even finished typing the post, I think you get a trophy for that:

There are a lot of people with tons of hatching experience on BYC, feel free to shoot the questions out there to help get you set up the best possible for successful hatches.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

I want to hatch at least one batch. My incubator only holds 12 eggs so that's how many I'll set, but who knows how many will hatch iykyk.
I have various hybrids and breeds in two separate coops.

Big coop: 10 hens, 1 rooster
Smaller coop: 4 hens, 1 rooster

 

[2ndTink]

I want to hatch at least one batch. My incubator only holds 12 eggs so that's how many I'll set, but who knows how many will hatch iykyk.
I have various hybrids and breeds in two separate coops.

Big coop: 10 hens, 1 rooster
Smaller coop: 4 hens, 1 rooster

Are you setting eggs from your own flocks?

 

[alliBlee]

This year I am doing some chaotic chicken math lol. I am going to raise up 6 this spring. 5 for a friend and keep 1 for my own flock. I currently have 9 hens in the coop but plan on selling or re-homing 4 of those before the new babies hatch. That should leave me with 6 total for myself come summertime. I would normally like to keep 8-10 hens but we know we are going to have a hectic year or two coming up with a new baby and home improvements, so I need to downsize while maintaining a good balance between new layers and older layers. Hopefully I can bring my numbers back up in 2028!

 

[2ndTink]

This year I am doing some chaotic chicken math lol. I am going to raise up 6 this spring. 5 for a friend and keep 1 for my own flock. I currently have 9 hens in the coop but plan on selling or re-homing 4 of those before the new babies hatch. That should leave me with 6 total for myself come summertime. I would normally like to keep 8-10 hens but we know we are going to have a hectic year or two coming up with a new baby and home improvements, so I need to downsize while maintaining a good balance between new layers and older layers. Hopefully I can bring my numbers back up in 2028!

Wishing you the best of luck with the chicken math dance and the new baby!

 

[Nomadicus]

Not sure... That's the safe answer. I want to hatch enough Bielefelder chicks for 10 more layers. The same for Cream Legbars. I want to add 10 Niederrheiner pullets. Out of 10 str run we purchased this year 8 were boys.

 

[2ndTink]

Not sure... That's the safe answer. I want to hatch enough Bielefelder chicks for 10 more layers. The same for Cream Legbars. I want to add 10 Niederrheiner pullets. Out of 10 str run we purchased this year 8 were boys.

I've been seeing Bielefelder's pop up more and more, they are really gorgeous chickens. Plus the auto-sexing at hatch is a huge plus, and they are big birds and it looks like they lay well also!

What is your opinion of them?

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Are you setting eggs from your own flocks?

Yes! I would love to buy some hatching eggs but there wouldn't really be a point in doing that since I will be getting rid of them anyway, sadly.