What does a chicken egg need to hatch?

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Hello,

I decided to make and design my own incubator so I ask what does an egg need to hatch? What temp heat? How long? One sided or two sided heat? I just need to know the mechanics of hatching a chicken egg, I don't want to do research because I will be tempted to look at someone's design or a commercial one and take ideas from it, I want to see how high of a hatch rate I can get and compare it to other hatchers on here. I have never hatched a chicken egg before, never seen the schematics or mechanics of a commercial incubator, I will build mine simply on the need of the egg with stuff I have laying around or have access to at work ext. so let me know the basics and I will go from there. Thanks

John

 

[WalnutHill]

Average 99.5F at the midpoint of the egg for 21 days for chickens, 28 days for turkeys. Temp should not drop below 98.5 nor over 103. Turn the egg a small amount through at least 90 degrees of motion throughout the day. Moisture loss should be controlled to ensure that the air cell is big enough to keep chick size small enough to maneuver but not so dry that it can't break through the membrane.

That's all there is to it. At least in theory.

 

[junebuggena]

Type DIY incubator in the search bar, and you will get a ton of results.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Lol how hard can it be? I'm in the HVAC field, temp and humidity is no big deal, i will build two and do two sets of 12 chicks to see if diff methods cast greater results, small changes in the design of the incubator but seriously lol I can build one in an hour

 

[WalnutHill]

Lol how hard can it be? I'm in the HVAC field, temp and humidity is no big deal, i will build two and do two sets of 12 chicks to see if diff methods cast greater results, small changes in the design of the incubator but seriously lol I can build one in an hour

12 in each would not be statistically significant. 25+ would reflect better on methods.

 

[MeepBeep]

Lol how hard can it be?

It's not hard at all, if you plan it out...

As said, give it the proper temp, control humidity and move the egg around regularly as well as provide breathable air and it should hatch...

Out of the three temp regulation is the most important for success, the inside of the egg should be held as close to 99.5° as possible...

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

25+?!?!?!? Lol I will already have 45 chickens, I am only hatching to see if I can and what my hatching rates are. Than the eggs I hatch, the chicks will be sold, I have two areas in the stalls so I can block off birds my breed to get a pure breed chick egg when mine start producing