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 — we sell Buff Orpington hatching eggs dispatched fresh from our farm in Scotland
• 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 Buff Orpington hatching eggs from our free-range farm in rural Scotland — dispatched Monday to Thursday, UK-wide. Six eggs for £20.

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