Spring is on the horizon and with that comes hatching season. Most years we have chicks, poults, and ducklings available for purchase. This year we will not have chicks or poults, our ducklings are naturally hatched by mothers and there may be extras available depending on hatch rates. Due to skyrocketing feed and electricity costs, we will only be hatching and raising the small number of birds our family requires.
We will offer hatching eggs. We currently have Beltsville Small White Turkeys and Standard Barred Rock chickens seperated. Later in the spring we will separate our Wheaten Ameracauna chickens and Silver Laced Wyandottes. We will also have a group of F1 and F2 olive eggers seperated if space allows.
A few things to note about hatching eggs. Hatching eggs are a risk. Always. Whether you are bringing them inside from your own coop, shipping them across the country or driving them a mile down the road. They can be too cold/ warm, get bumped or jostled dislodging an air sac, the rooster may not have fertilized that egg, the embryo may start and stop right away. There are a million different scenarios that come into play when purchasing hatching eggs. Sellers of hatching eggs get messages from customers all the time letting them know the eggs were duds, did not develop, had bad air sacs. Sadly, this is part of the business of hatching egg sales. We also get wonderful messages of fantastic hatch rates, pictures of cute fluffy babies and more! In my experience, I have found it extremely worth it to access some of the fabulous genetics and breeds offered in Canada. Locally and across the country. If the risk is not worth it to you then please source chicks or grow outs instead.
Quality hatching eggs are not “cheap”. That is because there is a cost of upkeep on the flock. Quality breeding stock, food, frequent egg gathering, storage of hatching eggs, inspection of those eggs to ensure only the best, cleanest, most uniform eggs are sent. Many poultry breeders take their small Poultry Business very seriously. Shipped hatching eggs typically have an expected hatch rate of 35-50%. I always take that into account when purchasing my own hatching eggs. We price our hatching eggs based on this as well. If you have a higher hatch rate, which many do then that is a bonus. It is still always better to plan for worst case scenario when budgeting.
We incubate our own eggs in either a Sportsman cabinet incubator or a Hovabator styrofoam incubator. We dry hatch. This has been the process that works best for us on our busy little homestead. It is too easy to miss topping up the water levels and potentially drowning our eggs. At lockdown we add dishes of distilled water with soaked sponges. These dishes are placed near the vent holes so they can be topped up if needed using a syring and a straw. We CANNOT guarantee that you will have the same results that we have ourselves. Once the eggs leave our farm there are many outside factors that come into play. Our own hatches can vary depending on the humidty in the room, an environmental factor, a power outage. We fertility test our eggs BEFORE we market them. If a customer requests eggs prior to fertility testing, they assume that risk. A customer assumes ALL risk on hatching eggs once they leave the farm.
Please do not let my cautions deter you! There is no greater joy for a chicken keeper than seeing a pip in the egg on hatch day and that cute baby chick emerge into the world. There is also no greater disappointment than when you tried to do everything right and have a failed hatch. I hope that you will dive into incubating your own eggs and enjoy the process! We are thrilled to be able to provide quality hatching eggs and support to our customers during the hatching experience, and are happy to answer any questions you have!
Happy Hatching! ~S
