Is this a reasonable idea - hatching at home?

[batten down the hatches]

Hi chicken fans! I'm getting my first chicks as an adult and put in my hatchery order back in December for an April hatch date. I had many chickens in my youth, but chicken keeping sure has come a long way in 20 years! I'm glad picking up a cheeping box at the post office is still a thing, though

I've got an incubator on my list of eventual supplies, because I've never hatched eggs and I'd love to try it. I thought I'd try it when my chickens are eventually laying, but I've started scheming.

Recently, I saw a posting on the chicken FB page I am a member of, for local hatching eggs for a breed I could not get from the hatchery. This sparked an idea - could I get a few hatching eggs and time it so they hatch around the time my hatchery chicks will hatch, then combine the groups in the brooder when the shipped chicks arrive?

The risks here are that the home-hatched chicks may be a few days older/younger than the shipped chicks, and that possibly none of the eggs will hatch/I won't be able to get the hatching eggs at the right time. Is this +/- a few days age difference going to be dangerous for sharing the brooder, or encourage undesirable behavior (pecking, aggression, etc)? I only have one heat plate. Are there other things I should consider here? I'd likely get 6-8 eggs and hope for a 50% success rate. My hatchery order is 18.

Thanks for your insight!

 

[LizzzyJo]

They will all be just fine! No worries. I've got a span of 3 weeks in my brooder right now. Just make sure you have enough space so that the different age chicks can get 5degrees different in temperature. Let their behavior guide your heating and lamp placement. Make sure the big ones aren't stomping on the day olds.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think if you plan to have them hatch around the time the other come, it's fine. Worst case scenery, you can put like an ice cream tub in the warmer part (but not under) and put shavings and the new chicks in there until they fluff out and can move around normally. It's what I do and usually as long as everyone is less than a week, they're fine

 

[batten down the hatches]

Thank you both! I spoke to the local breeder and she is going to set some aside for me in mid-March. I'm so pleased I can get some of this breed right nearby and don't have to have eggs shipped.

I ordered an incubator and hygrometers to do some testing before go time.

I am really looking forward to this and it will give me something to focus on in the final countdown to chicks (in addition to finishing the coop, starting my dahlias inside, and the new fish tank...). I've already filled my coop and the chicks haven't even hatched yet!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

What breed is it if you don't mind sharing it?

 

[batten down the hatches]

Sure! The breed above was the Mosaic, and I found another breeder a bit further away with Swedish Flower Hen and Cream Legbar hatching eggs, so we made it a bit of an afternoon road trip and also picked up some of those (plus a few Easter Egger eggs from both).

The eggs are currently in the incubator and hatch day is next weekend!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sure! The breed above was the Mosaic, and I found another breeder a bit further away with Swedish Flower Hen and Cream Legbar hatching eggs, so we made it a bit of an afternoon road trip and also picked up some of those (plus a few Easter Egger eggs from both).

The eggs are currently in the incubator and hatch day is next weekend!

Oh you'll love the mosaics. I have eggs incubating now for them