February 9, 2018

A Guide to Hatching Eggs: Brooding

in News & Insights

It’s a great feeling when you’ve successfully hatched a clutch of eggs and you watch your new little chicks fluffing up ready to get out of the incubator. You are now ready to transfer them to a brooder.

When it comes to raising chicks, a brooder is essential for providing a warm, safe, and controlled environment. A brooder serves as a temporary home for chicks until they are old enough to be moved to a coop.

Brooding generally take up to 6 weeks, with temperatures adjusted over time. Remember to follow the instructions when maintaining your heat.

Brooder Types

There are several types of brooders, each with its own advantages and suited to different needs.

Cardboard Brooder
Plastic Brooder
Metal (Wire) Brooder
Pre-made Plastic Poultry Brooder (Commercial Brooder)
Heat Plate Brooder
Heat Lamp Brooder
Brooder Box with Dividers
Mobile Brooder
DIY (Custom-Built) Brooder

Choosing the Right Brooder

The right brooder for you depends on several factors, including:

The number of chicks you plan to raise.
Whether the chicks will be indoors or outdoors.
Your budget and time constraints for building or buying.
Whether you prefer a temporary or permanent setup.

Each type of brooder offers its own set of benefits, so it's important to consider your specific needs and resources before choosing one!

What makes a good brooder?

A good brooder is essential for ensuring the health, safety, and proper development of your chicks in their early days of life. Here are the key qualities and features that make a brooder good:

1. Adequate Size

A good brooder provides enough space for chicks to move around, stretch their wings, and explore. As chicks grow, they need more space to prevent overcrowding, which can lead to stress and the risk of injury.
A general rule of thumb is to provide about 0.5 to 1 square foot per chick in the first few weeks of life, and more space as they grow.

2. Proper Temperature Control

Chicks need a warm environment for the first few weeks of life. A good brooder should be able to maintain a warm temperature (around 35°C) during the first week, gradually decreasing each subsequent week until they are ready to be moved to a coop.
This can be achieved using a heat lamp, heat plate, or a brooder heater. A thermometer should be included in the brooder so you can monitor the temperature.

3. Stable and Safe Temperature

The brooder must maintain a stable temperature without dramatic fluctuations, which can stress the chicks and affect their development. Sudden temperature drops or spikes can cause chilled chicks (if too cold) or overheated chicks (if too hot).
A draft-free environment is important, as drafts can quickly cool the chicks and lead to health problems.

4. Good Ventilation

Proper ventilation is essential to keep the air fresh, prevent moisture buildup, and avoid the development of harmful gases, such as ammonia, which can harm the chicks’ respiratory systems.
A good brooder will have adequate air circulation but should not be drafty, as drafts can cause chicks to get cold.

5. Cleanliness and Easy to Clean

A good brooder should be made from materials that are easy to clean and disinfect. Cleanliness is vital to prevent the growth of bacteria and the spread of disease.
A smooth surface without corners or cracks where dirt can accumulate is ideal. Also, having a removable floor or tray that makes cleaning easier can be a big help.

6. Safe and Secure

The brooder should be escape-proof, especially if you are using a small brooder or keeping chicks in an area where they could potentially squeeze through gaps.
Secure lids or walls prevent chicks from jumping out or getting into trouble. Be sure that there are no sharp edges or small openings where chicks could get caught.

7. Easily Accessible

A good brooder should have easy access to both the chicks and the feeding/watering areas. This makes it easier for you to check on the chicks, adjust their environment, and provide food and water.
If the brooder is large, it should have doors or lids that can be opened without disturbing the chicks too much. This ensures minimal stress during interactions.

8. Adequate Lighting

Chicks need a day-night cycle to help them develop. While they need warmth, they also need darkness at night to rest and sleep.
A good brooder should allow you to provide light during the day for warmth and visibility, but you should also be able to turn off the lights at night to give them a proper rest.

9. Easy to Monitor

A good brooder allows you to monitor the chicks easily, whether it’s checking their behavior, food and water consumption, or temperature.
Some brooders come with built-in temperature and humidity monitors, which help you track the environment without opening the brooder.

10. Adequate Bedding

Bedding is necessary to absorb waste, provide comfort, and help prevent injuries to chicks. A good brooder will have an appropriate bedding material, such as wood shavings, straw, or paper towels for the first few days.
The bedding should be deep enough to absorb moisture but not so deep that chicks could get buried in it.

11. Protective from Predators

The brooder must provide protection from predators, including household pets (such as dogs or cats) or wild animals (like rats). It should be secure and safe to prevent any potential harm.

12. Ease of Movement and Transport (if necessary)

If you're planning to move the brooder or need to take it to different areas, a good brooder will be portable. Consider brooders with handles or lightweight materials that make them easy to move around without disturbing the chicks.

13. Self-Regulated Heating Options (Heat Plates)

Some brooders use heat plates instead of heat lamps. A good brooder can include a self-regulated heating system like a heat plate, which mimics the warmth a mother hen provides. Heat plates are energy-efficient, and chicks can regulate their body temperature by moving closer or farther from the plate.

April 27, 2025

A Guide to Hatching Eggs: Egg Hatching Methods

There are a variety of ways to hatch eggs. The two most common options are hatching and brooding. Brooding The most common and natural way of hatching a chicken egg is called brooding. This involves letting the mother hen sit on the eggs in the nest until they hatch. Mother hens will naturally and instinctively care for her chicks after. If for any reason the hen doesn’t have the instinct to hatch, broody hens may be used. Through the brooding method, a hen can hatch around 10-12 eggs at a time. If you don't have a broody hen, brooders (including electric hover brooders, gas brooders, radiant brooders, and battery brooders) can be used as a substitute. A brooder generates heat that's similar to the levels of a mother hen to simulate and encourage the natural hatching process. Incubation If your mother hen is not feeling motherly or you don’t have a broody hen or a brooder, an incubator may be used. An incubator keeps the eggs warm until they are ready to hatch. While there are a lot of ways you can improvise this method such as using a DIY heat lamp with a cardboard box, using a proper incubator will increase your chances of hatching most (if not all) of your eggs. There are many types of incubators available for use at home from small incubators that hold a small batch, to large rack-based incubators for larger batches. Talk to an expert to find the best one for your needs. Will all of your eggs hatch? It is important to know that despite following the right methods and providing the right care, only fertilised eggs will hatch into chicks. There are many factors to consider if you're trying to improve your hatch rate. Some of those include: Good nutrition for the parents Ensuring controlled and consistent temperatures if using an incubator Keeping the eggs and surrounding areas clean Understanding the conditions that are needed will increase your chances of fertilised eggs being hatched into healthy chicks.

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September 25, 2020

A Guide to Hatching Eggs: How Long Do Chickens Take to Hatch?

Is it your first hatching season? While hatching eggs might seem like a simple process that takes care of itself, there are a few quirks that you will want to keep in mind. One of the most important starting points is asking the question: what is the typical incubation period for a chicken egg? So How Long Do Chickens Take to Hatch? Under normal conditions, and given proper care, chicken eggs will naturally take an average of 21 days to hatch, while other poultry egg breeds may take longer depending on the type. This can depend on a number of factors, including minor temperature changes if using incubation and the health and age of the laying hen. Sometime hatching may take a little less time and some a little longer. Here is a guide: Breed Incubation Period Bantams 21 Chickens 21 Ducks 28 Muscovy 35 Turkeys 28 Geese 28 - 34 Guinea Fowl 26 - 28 Pheasant 23 - 28 Pea Fowl 28 - 30 Quail 16 - 18 Partridge (Chukar) 23 - 24 Pigeon 18 Swan 36 - 37 Ostrich 42

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July 12, 2018

A Guide to Hatching Eggs: Tips to improve your incubation hatch rates

There are many factors that will affect your hatch rate. Using an incubator is only one piece of the puzzle. Hatch rates can be affected by the quality or health of the breeding stock, how the eggs are stores or the quality of the incubator.Here are a few vital things you need to consider in order to get the best results possible when hatching eggs in an incubator. Get these right and you should be hatching in the 90% range but get any of them wrong and you could be disappointed come hatch day. The good news is you will learn every time you incubate a batch of eggs, especially when things don’t go as planned. The more mistakes you make, that faster you’ll learn and perfect your process. Check the quality, health & diet of breeding stock Make sure you get your fertile eggs from a reliable breeder who has good bloodlines and who feed their birds a healthy diet. The conditions the birds are kept in will give you an idea if the breeding stock are well looked after. Also, ask your breeder if their chooks are up to date with worming as this all has an impact on the eggs. Remember once the egg is laid there is nothing you can do to improve it. Confirm the eggs age and storage conditions Eggs should be no older than 7-10 days before being put into the incubator. Every day thereafter will slow down your hatch. If you’re collecting your own eggs then each day store them in a cool spot out of direct sunlight (for example your pantry in an egg carton with the pointy end down). Do not store your eggs in a refidgerator. Collect the eggs for 1 week then set all the eggs in the incubator on the same day. Eggs sent in the post are bound to give you low hatch rates. They will be knocked around, left in the sun, and lord knows how old they are. Never blame a poor hatch from posted eggs on your incubation techniques as you’re behind the eight ball from the start. Use a good quality incubator Get this part right and managing your temperative and humidiy should be much easier to control. There are a lot of poor-quality incubators on the market which aren’t certified for use in Australia. A good incubator will include: consistent and adjustable temperature control, often with digital thermostat adjustable humidity, with a built-in gauge an automatic egg turner (or easy manual turning) efficient air circulation (using a fan) well-insulated design, resistant to external temperature changes a digital display for easy monitoring of temperature and humidity enough space, not overcrowded, sufficient air circulation high-quality, durable materials and components that are easy to clean. If your budget doesn’t allow a good quality incubator and you buy one a cheaper model then we recommend you take care where you place it (maybe in a shed or open space) as untested and uncertified electrical products can be a fire hazard. Set up your incubator as per the instructions Once you do get your incubator be sure to set it up exactly as per the instructions as most models have been tested and perfected over many years and so following the manufacturer’s guidelines will see you getting the very best from your machine. Monitor the temperature (inside and outside) Another vital aspect in the process is temperature, get this wrong and hatch rates will quickly drop. Incubators are designed to maintain the temperature set at a certain level, remember to follow the incubator instructions when setting your temperature levels to increase your changes of a successful hatch. Note: 37.5 degrees celsius is generally considered the ideal incubation temperature although some people will argue slightly higher is best. This can cary depending on the breed. Keep your incubator in a room that will be cooler than the incubation temperature. If your room is hotter than the incubator, the incubator be too hot for the eggs. You need to monitor your external room temperature and humidity, especially in hot climates, and through the hottest days of summer. Monitor the humidity Humidity is a crucial factor in egg incubation because it directly affects the development of the embryo and the successful hatching of the chicks. Proper humidity ensures that the eggs remain in the right conditions for the embryo to develop and hatch correctly. Most quality incubators allow you to monitor the internal humidity levels if you eggs. Here are some things to keep in mind: Avoid opening the incubator all the time to check the eggs. This will mess with the conditions every time and mess with your hatch rates. Manual turn incubators must be opened to turn the eggs but make sure you are efficient with this and only open the incubator for the minimum time needed. Make sure all channels are filled (and kept filled) as per the instructions. Don’t forget it is the amount of surface area of the water, not how deep the channels or dishes are that make the humidity higher or lower. Ie a large saucer of water (bigger surface area) will make it more humid than a smaller dish of water (smaller surface area). Some incubators have external access to the water channels which means you never need to open the lid, this is a great feature and worth looking out for. Add lukewarm water - not cold. If you fill the channels with freezing cold water it will probably take an hour or so for the incubator to be at the ideal temp/humidity again, which is not what you want. Mark and turn your eggs If manually turning eggs keep a cross (X) on one side and a (0) on the other written on with a grey lead pencil or similar. This way you will always know which eggs have been turned as you’re doing it. Then have all the crosses up in the morning and all of them down at night. A third turn in the middle of the day (if possible) can also be a good idea. If you have an incubator that rolls the eggs. Make sure all eggs are able to roll freely. Some can get stuck so just keep an eye on them. Maybe even put the X and 0 on the eggs also so that you can see how evenly all eggs are turning. The “rocking” method is my preferred way to turn eggs. Pointy end down the eggs will be rocked backwards and forwards by the incubator. It is a fool proof way to make sure all eggs are being moved evenly, no need to mark them as this all happens automatically. Whichever way you turn the eggs, remember stop turning them 2-3 days before hatch day and leave them on their side so that the chicks can start "pipping" through the shell. Keep the incubator clean Incubators are amazing at replicating the conditions of the mother hen but you need to be aware that the mother will hatch her eggs and then move on with her clutch. She doesn’t keep hatching clutch after clutch over and over in the same tiny space. If she did the nest would get pretty messy wouldn’t it? So you need to ensure that every time you hatch a clutch of eggs the incubator is properly cleaned with hot soapy water and disinfectant then dried out properly before the next batch. We all know how messy an incubator looks after the eggs have hatched but this is a very important step, clean clean clean!Also keep your incubator in good working order. Store it when not being used back in it’s box and in a dry place. It’s also not a bad idea to have a couple of spare parts handy just in case something decides to fail right at the crucial time ie. mid incubation!! Have fun Hatching chickens and other poultry is a great hobby, classroom or family activity. It’s educational and you get to watch new life being bought into the world. No matter your reasons, don’t forget to enjoy the process and don’t get too down on your mistakes. Don’t get too discouraged if things don’t go perfectly. It’s all a learning curve and the fun of it is understanding what might have gone wrong then making the tweaks and changes to improve hatchability next time round.

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