Is it bad to hatch chicks in an incubator in winter???

[KiwiChickenGirl2020]

Hey, I am looking to hatch some chicks soon but it is going to be winter in 1 1/2 months here in Australia. Where I live it gets below -5 degrees. Will it still be okay to hatch 24 eggs? Will they not be as healthy as chicks hatched in the spring?

 

[Mellowmalt]

they will be just as healthy but there are some reasons possibly why it is a bad idea. I only learnt about these reasons by doing it so here is what I learnt.

Doing it in winter will cost more electricity running the incubator and running the brooder for another 8 weeks.

Keeping them warm in winter is harder than in summer where you can nearly get away with not heating so the brooder needs to be better insulated.

In winter the air can become very dry in houses. This might make it harder to maintain humidity in the incubator.

And the biggest and most important reason not to do it in winter is the following. They will be born in winter but they will grow up very fast - 2 months is fast and if you don't time it right then it will still be cold out. Now this might be less of an issue or no issue at all in australia. Depends what your weather is like or more importantly what your weather will be like in 3 months time. It should be ok but here by the time they grew up it was still too cold outside and it's just about worked out but for a week I had a crowing cockerel in the house which should be avoided but it was too cold for him to go out. He started crowing at 9 weeks old which caught me off guard as I was not expecting him to crow that early.

So do the math and see what the weather will be like once they need to go out. Humidity can be increased with a wet sponge if needed. So as long as you plan it well I think it can be done. There isn't any physical reason why it can't be done weather wise just that it needs to be warm enough once they are older.

 

[KiwiChickenGirl2020]

they will be just as healthy but there are some reasons possibly why it is a bad idea. I only learnt about these reasons by doing it so here is what I learnt.

Doing it in winter will cost more electricity running the incubator and running the brooder for another 8 weeks.

Keeping them warm in winter is harder than in summer where you can nearly get away with not heating so the brooder needs to be better insulated.

In winter the air can become very dry in houses. This might make it harder to maintain humidity in the incubator.

And the biggest and most important reason not to do it in winter is the following. They will be born in winter but they will grow up very fast - 2 months is fast and if you don't time it right then it will still be cold out. Now this might be less of an issue or no issue at all in australia. Depends what your weather is like or more importantly what your weather will be like in 3 months time. It should be ok but here by the time they grew up it was still too cold outside and it's just about worked out but for a week I had a crowing cockerel in the house which should be avoided but it was too cold for him to go out. He started crowing at 9 weeks old which caught me off guard as I was not expecting him to crow that early.

So do the math and see what the weather will be like once they need to go out. Humidity can be increased with a wet sponge if needed. So as long as you plan it well I think it can be done. There isn't any physical reason why it can't be done weather wise just that it needs to be warm enough once they are older.

Thank you! Did you have to keep checking the humidity? Did yours go up and down all the time?

 

[RebekahTN]

I didn't have issues with my incubator while hatching in the winter.... just try to time it, so that by 8 to 10 weeks it won't be TO cold outside. I brood in the house so they would be in there 8 weeks regardless of winter or spring or summer.... They usually stay in the house longer if I brood in winter so I do smaller batches and then when I do put them outside in the grow out coop I put their heat plate in there with them for warmth when needed that I don't usually do with spring/summer chicks. We tend to bond even more with winter chicks because there are fewer and they are in there longer. We love learning their personalities and watching chick tv.

 

[KiwiChickenGirl2020]

I didn't have issues with my incubator while hatching in the winter.... just try to time it, so that by 8 to 10 weeks it won't be TO cold outside. I brood in the house so they would be in there 8 weeks regardless of winter or spring or summer.... They usually stay in the house longer if I brood in winter so I do smaller batches and then when I do put them outside in the grow out coop I put their heat plate in there with them for warmth when needed that I don't usually do with spring/summer chicks. We tend to bond even more with winter chicks because there are fewer and they are in there longer. We love learning their personalities and watching chick tv.

Thanks! I love watching chick TV too!