Iam pretty new at incubating, but i was wondering what is a reilistic hatch rate. u know if i but 40 eggs in what is a good number to get out. just wondering what u smart peoples have to say about it. i have had 2 batches and minus the un fertile eggs i have got 4 out of 10. just wondering i think it should be higher..
there are a lot of factors about hatchability in eggs. were they local or shipped, what breed, how old the eggs are, how old the birds are, what they're fed, etc.
for shipped eggs, i don't usually expect more than 20%. i've had more and less but it's a pretty accurate estimate IMO. for local eggs from birds that are fed a good layer ration and allowed to free range some, the expected outcome would be much higher.
I set 8 bantam cochin eggs (from my mille fleur pen), and hatched 8 chicks today. i've got 9 more due around the 18th, so far 9/9 are kicking. I've also got 41 shipped eggs i set last wed, haven't candled to see what's cooking yet, but from that breeder i've had between 10 and 40% hatch rates in previous batches of eggs.
for my eggs, i dry incubate (adding no water unless it goes below 10-15% humidity), with an auto turner. then i move them to a separate hatcher on day 18-19 and increase humidity to about 60%. this last hatch I hadn't written down the day they were set, so when i went to move them to the hatcher, 2 had already pipped. I caught them in time though from shrink-wrapping and they all popped out just fine.
i also mentioned breed, because some breeds are very inbred and have hatchability issues because of the inbreeding involved, so a given percentage of eggs may not make it to lockdown on a regular basis because of that. other breeds have super fluffy 'butts' and actually getting fertilized eggs can be a challenge. like the bantam cochins. so a bit of human intervention is sometimes necessary to trim the fluff to allow the rooster to make contact. and other breeds have physical issues that make fertilization hard, like the rumpless araucana. without the rump the rooster sometimes has a hard time staying on to get his job done.
dorkings on the whole have been severely inbred in recent years due to a lack of popularity with breeders (commercial meat birds took their place back in the 50's), and i may get 100% fertility, but a number usually quit on me before lockdown, and a few may quit after lockdown. so anything over 50% on the dorkings and i'm happy.
so like i said, there are a lot of factors involved. but for your own home grown eggs, from breeds that don't have fertility issues because of their type or breed, that are fed a good varied diet, it's not unreasonable to expect 100%.
