![]() Changing an egg’s attitude helps exercise the embryo and prevent it from sticking to the shell. ![]() Just as temperature and humidity are important to maximizing the hatch, eggs need to be moved around on a regular basis for best results. Lowering the temperature helps account for the extra heat that the larger embryos produce as a result of their metabolism, and the increased humidity helps keep the chicks from getting stuck to the membrane that’s located just inside the egg shell as they break out of the shell. During the final three days of incubation, the eggs should ideally be located in a slightly cooler (98.5 degrees) and more humid (65 percent relative humidity or greater) environment to facilitate successful hatching. Consider that number to be a target – not an absolute. To facilitate proper aeration and gas exchange between the embryo inside the egg and the outside world, the eggs must not be held in a tightly sealed container.Ĭhicken eggs typically hatch after 21 days of incubation. Perhaps the most important parameter is temperature – chicken eggs should be incubated at a temperature between 99 and 102 degrees Fahrenheit (99.5 is often considered to be ideal) and 50 to 65 percent relative humidity (60 percent is often considered the ideal). Incubation TemperatureĬhicken eggs need a fairly specific environment to develop properly and hatch successfully. Hatching fertile eggs need not be difficult, but your success rate can be increased by following a few guiding principles. Likewise for folks who keep a rooster in their flock, incubating eggs is a great way to increase the flock size, or to provide replacements for birds that have been culled. For folks who are uncertain about receiving live animals through the mail, or simply cannot handle the minimum number of day-old chicks that most hatcheries require, incubating fertile eggs is an attractive alternative. But that’s not the only way to create your first flock or maintain your existing one. ![]() Which came first, the chicken or the egg? For most backyard poultry enthusiasts, the chicken came first – well, more correctly, the day-old chicks first arrived in the mail. A broody hen takes the work out of incubating eggs. ![]()
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