How to Hatch Eggs at Home: A Beginner's Guide

By on 7 March 2026

Hatching your own eggs is one of the most rewarding things you can do as a chicken keeper. It’s also not as complicated as people make it sound. Here’s a practical guide to getting started.

What You’ll Need

• A decent incubator with automatic turning (a still-air incubator works but is less forgiving)
• A separate brooder for chicks once hatched
• Fertile eggs from a reputable source
• A thermometer/hygrometer you trust
• Patience

Temperature and Humidity

For most incubators, you’re aiming for 37.5°C (99.5°F) throughout incubation. Humidity should sit around 45–55% for days 1–18, then rise to 65–70% for the final three days (the “lockdown” period).

Getting these two things right accounts for the vast majority of successful hatches.

Turning

Eggs need to be turned at least 3 times per day during days 1–18. Most modern incubators do this automatically. If you’re turning by hand, mark one side of each egg with a pencil so you can track rotation.

Stop turning on day 18 and increase humidity. This is lockdown — don’t open the incubator if you can avoid it.

Candling

Candle your eggs at around day 7 and again at day 14. A bright torch in a dark room works fine. You’re looking for a visible network of veins and a growing dark mass (the developing embryo). Clear eggs or eggs with a blood ring should be removed.

Hatching Day

Chicks typically hatch on day 21, though this can vary by a day either side depending on incubation temperature. Once a chick pips (breaks through the shell), give it time — the process can take 12–24 hours. Resist the urge to help unless a chick has clearly been stuck for a very long time.

Leave chicks in the incubator until they’re dry and fluffy before moving to the brooder.

Common Mistakes

• Opening the incubator too often during lockdown (drops humidity)
• Helping chicks that don’t need help
• Trusting a cheap thermometer without calibrating it
• Buying eggs from unknown or poorly managed flocks

Our Hatching Eggs

We sell fertile hatching eggs from our Buff, Blue, and Black Orpingtons throughout the season. Get in touch to check availability.

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