How many chicks will you hatch in 2026?

[kattabelly]

Hatching "a few" chicks for "a couple" of other people next month seems to be rapidly spiralling out of control

* fires up ebay in search of another incubator *

 

[redinator]

Hatching "a few" chicks for "a couple" of other people next month seems to be rapidly spiralling out of control

* fires up ebay in search of another incubator *

I suggest staying away from Ebay. You might be searching for incubators and end up with hatching eggs.

 

[kattabelly]

I suggest staying away from Ebay. You might be searching for incubators and end up with hatching eggs.

Can't buy hatching eggs on UK ebay, and I never would have chanced that even back when it was allowed (edit - other than when a seller I trust, who also sold on ebay, has asked me to order that way because it was easier for them for whatever reason).

 

[farmer90]

My first hatch of the year will be next week (quails).
From the very first hatch I play guessing game with my family. Anyone else doing it? The rules are simple. I say how many eggs I have in the incubator and they guess how many chicks will hatch. The one who guesses right or gets the closest number is winner. The winner can choose whether they want for their prize a box of eggs or a processed rooster.

 

[kattabelly]

My first hatch of the year will be next week (quails).
From the very first hatch I play guessing game with my family. Anyone else doing it? The rules are simple. I say how many eggs I have in the incubator and they guess how many chicks will hatch. The one who guesses right or gets the closest number is winner. The winner can choose whether they want for their prize a box of eggs or a processed rooster.

The community garden where I keep my chickens has a slot next month, at a charity shop in town that lets different organisations come in each week to raise funds by selling things from the shop. It'll be about a week before I have a few incubators full of eggs due to hatch. I was thinking of taking a picture they could put up to make a competition out of it, like the "guess how many sweets in the jar" competitions that are often done at charity fundraiser type events (only no one will win any chicks! I can offer some eggs for eating though)

 

[JenniMcChick]

And so it begins!
Have one broody. Been sitting on 9 eggs for 8 days now. I'll candle them in a couple days and see how many are viable.
She's one of the chicks from last year: Splash Orpington/Cochin cross (most likely). She's a big, beautiful girl, but my poorest layer. So if I was only going to allow one to stay broody & be allowed to sit & hatch eggs, she's the best one to let do so. I left eggs from all the others to see how they turn out, but pulled the one she laid. Made up the extra from my Production Blue as she's the best layer I have & has also yet to go broody.
So now I'm praying Cookie is able to hatch some of those eggs & that she's a good momma!

5 eggs were viable. I cracked the other 3 & nothing in them, so guessing not fertilized. Of those 5, she hatched 3. After an extra 2 days, I candled the last 2 eggs when she finally left them. No movement, no vessels. I removed them & cracked open. 2 perfectly formed chicks in them, but both dead. One still had yolk sack & a few blood vessels to it, the other had already completely absorbed it's yolk sac. Not sure exactly what happened, but when I checked brooder in the morning, she was still sitting on them. Noticed small chick was waterer empty. It had somehow seeped into the bedding. She was laying on them atop the wet bedding. I removed all the wet shavings & replaced w/dry. Was extremely careful handling the eggs & replaced them exactly the way they were, never allowing them to turn. She left them before that evening. Assume she knew they had died. Could it be they got chilled from water? Drowned?? Idk, but I buried them.
Here are the 3 she is raising. Assuming they are from Buff Orpington eggs as there seems to be gold leakage of varying degrees in all 3.
1st pic w/in 24 hrs on 3/9/26.
Other pics 3/19/26.
Looking forward to seeing how they feather out. & all 3 have roosters feathered feet.