Sometimes, when I want eggs from a particular hen and rooster pairing, or if I want to test the fertility of my flock, I will incubate a clutch of eggs. This gives me information I cannot get from letting my broodies just auto-pilot and make more chickens. When I first started incubating eggs, I found it very intimidating. There was SO much information out there about how easy it is to screw up, and so many bad incubators out there!
I decided I needed to remove as many variables as I could, so I looked for an incubator from a reputable company, with killer reviews and history of being a quality product. I also wanted an incubator that allowed me to easily see what was going on in there. We went with a Nurture Right 360. There are lots of opinions out there on why this brand or that one is better, but this one ticked all the boxes. With incubators it seems, you get what you pay for. I am glad I have reliable hens that are great broodies, and phenominal mothers. Observing them gave me valuable insight when observing the professionals and mimicking their process with my incubator management practices. In my flock, broody behavior ranges from getting off the nest every two days or so, and leaving for an hour (or more), to getting off the nest once a week (or less!) and leaving the eggs for less than 30 minutes. All my broody hens have about a 90% (probably higher, really) hatch rate.
This tells me several things. First, my roosters are doing their jobs, and second, it’s really okay to take your time with incubator eggs, and candle them often. Numerous times, a clutch of eggs have cooled to ambient temperature in the hen’s long absence from her nest (I know, because I often use these opportunities to candle her eggs on the sly). This tells me we are probably being really unreasonable with being so careful to not leave our incubator eggs exposed for more than a few minutes, and only candling them once or twice during the incubation period. I feel like as a society, we have become so hyper-focused on perfection and process that we get anxiety by just letting things happen organically (meaning, not within the strict confines of a prescription process).
I even had a chicken end up with a BUNCH of eggs under her. Like, 30 of them. She somehow managed to cover all of them, but they were all at different stages of the incubation process, and she had about 15 left a few days after the earliest ones started hatching. So, I constructed an emergency incubator out of a wax warmer and a Styrofoam cooler. The majority of those hatched too. Eggs are far better at their job, and embryos are far stronger than we give them credit for.
I candle my eggs every few days (around every 3 days-the average time my hens as a group get off their nest to take a break). I make sure my incubator is set up on a flat surface with plenty of space to set the lid next to it, and to make notes etc. to negate any clumsiness on my part. I grab a pencil before getting started. When I candle the egg, if it looks like it’s developing, I pencil a little heart on the egg. If I can’t tell, I pencil a little question mark on it. Since I check my eggs frequently, I get a good idea of what’s going on in those pleasant oblong orbs. It gives me insight as to how they are developing, and a feel for what they look like on the path to halted development. I probably candle my eggs less frequently than my hens get off their nests, and they STILL have a superior hatch rate! As a wildlife rehabilitator, I often tell people mom does a much better job than we can hope to do. This holds true in my flock as well. They are just better equipped to do what I poorly imitate, and I am so grateful I have such a great flock!
My chickens have taught me to relax, and not be so process-oriented. Eggs are designed to be incubated, allowed to cool, and incubated again. Even when a broody get confused and return to the wrong nest box for an entire day before the humans come help her out, that clutch has a very acceptable hatch rate. Even when eggs are almost 10 days old, have been stored in a refrigerated house because you want eggs from your most productive broody to add broody chickens to your flock, and its a thousand degrees outside, and she leaves the eggs most of the day…even then, all but 4 out of 14 hatch. We need to stop meddling so much, just relax, and let the eggs do what they are designed to do. If you are like me though, it will definitely try you when you need everything to be perfect and scripted. Farm life will teach you to stop hyper focusing on the details for sure. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you would like to get a nurture right 360 for yourself, you can find it here. Happy hatching ya’ll.
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