Interactive lesson

From egg to chick, step by step

Interactive lesson: broody hen or incubator, choosing and storing eggs, temperature, humidity and turning, candling, the hatch and the first weeks in the brooder.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Broody hen or incubator

In 21 days a chick comes out of a fertile egg, under a broody hen or in an incubator.

Twenty-one days — From setting to hatching takes 21 days. Day 1 is the day you set the eggs.
Broody: little work — A broody sits on 10–15 eggs, as many as she can cover, usually April–June. She needs feed, water and peace, and success is often very good.
Incubator: when you decide — An incubator holds from 7 to several hundred eggs, of any breed. It needs daily checks for 21 days, electricity and a brooder.
Who warms the chicks — A broody warms, teaches and protects her chicks. With an incubator you are the hen: heating lasts 5–6 weeks.

Why: A chick hatches only if the eggs are well chosen and the temperature, humidity and turning are right. A broody does all of that herself. An incubator only works as well as you prepare and check it.

For your first hatch choose a broody if you have one: she does almost everything herself, and you learn.
Bring in an incubator when you want more chicks, or earlier in the season before any hen goes broody.

2. Hatching eggs

A bad egg can't give a good chick, however good the incubator.

A flock with a cockerel — Take eggs from healthy hens in full lay, over a year old. The cockerel is in the flock for at least 2–3 weeks before you collect, one to 8–12 hens.
Medium and unwashed — Choose medium-sized, well-shaped eggs with no cracks or thin shells. Don't wash them, because washing removes the protective bloom; wipe a slightly dirty one with a dry cloth.
Pencil, 7 days at most — Mark eggs in pencil, never with a felt-tip that soaks through the shell. Set eggs no more than 7 days old; after 10 days hatch rates drop noticeably.
Cool, pointed end down — Store them at 12–15 °C (54–59 °F) in a cool larder or cellar, not the fridge, pointed end down. Before setting they stand 6–12 hours at room temperature.

Why: Choosing eggs starts weeks before the hatch, with the flock. The embryo feeds only on what the hen put into the egg, so the flock needs a complete feed, greens and oyster shell.

Buy hatching eggs only from a healthy flock (in the US an NPIP-certified one): some diseases, e.g. pullorum and mycoplasma, pass through the egg to the chick.
Eggs sent by post often hatch less well because of jolting and temperature.