New to hatching eggs

[GodLovesU]

Unless there’s a few you really want I would order a variety.You could just get more of the ones you want more and fewer of the ones you don’t want as much.

Alright next step in the process!

I’m going to place my preorder for early in the spring season. Wanting to add about 6-8 so I don’t fill my coop too full. I have room for 11 more at this point allowing 4 sqft per bird and 15 in the run, I don’t want to push things to the absolute max. Anyway, with that in mind how many should I be ordering accounting for roosters and some possibly not hatching. 16? 24? Somewhere in between?

I do want a mix of breeds. I’m wanting legbars and mosaics I think for sure. I also am considering adding a few more marans, this hatchery has splash, blue and black marans so I’m curious what I’d get! And considering Swedish flower hens and bielefelders.

Is it worth just getting 2/3 of one of them or is that too big a chance they’d be roosters or not hatch and better to focus on just a few of the ones I’ve mentioned? Or do any of you love the variety and it is what it is if some don’t turn out to be pullets?

 

[GodLovesU]

I think 20 would be a good number.I Managed to hatch 16-17 babies from 20 eggs once.However I’ve also had much worse results when I had older or shipped eggs.

Alright next step in the process!

I’m going to place my preorder for early in the spring season. Wanting to add about 6-8 so I don’t fill my coop too full. I have room for 11 more at this point allowing 4 sqft per bird and 15 in the run, I don’t want to push things to the absolute max. Anyway, with that in mind how many should I be ordering accounting for roosters and some possibly not hatching. 16? 24? Somewhere in between?

I do want a mix of breeds. I’m wanting legbars and mosaics I think for sure. I also am considering adding a few more marans, this hatchery has splash, blue and black marans so I’m curious what I’d get! And considering Swedish flower hens and bielefelders.

Is it worth just getting 2/3 of one of them or is that too big a chance they’d be roosters or not hatch and better to focus on just a few of the ones I’ve mentioned? Or do any of you love the variety and it is what it is if some don’t turn out to be pullets?

 

[FunClucks]

Alright next step in the process!

I’m going to place my preorder for early in the spring season. Wanting to add about 6-8 so I don’t fill my coop too full. I have room for 11 more at this point allowing 4 sqft per bird and 15 in the run, I don’t want to push things to the absolute max. Anyway, with that in mind how many should I be ordering accounting for roosters and some possibly not hatching. 16? 24? Somewhere in between?

I do want a mix of breeds. I’m wanting legbars and mosaics I think for sure. I also am considering adding a few more marans, this hatchery has splash, blue and black marans so I’m curious what I’d get! And considering Swedish flower hens and bielefelders.

Is it worth just getting 2/3 of one of them or is that too big a chance they’d be roosters or not hatch and better to focus on just a few of the ones I’ve mentioned? Or do any of you love the variety and it is what it is if some don’t turn out to be pullets?

I'd assume half or a third of the eggs will hatch. For the breeds you really want hens of, stack the deck with this in mind. If you hatch 24, you can sell the extras and roos. Hopefully you'll get a couple hens out of it. Assuming your incubator can comfortably handle 2 dozen, that's what I'd get.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Thanks everyone! So much good advice here! I ordered 24, stacked the legbars a bit since they are the ones I want the most! Then split the rest - mosaics, marans (she has black, splash and blue! I currently have French bcm), and Swedish flower hens! I got 6 of those and really hoping I get one hen with a crest, she seems to have both crested and not crested.

I went down the rabbit hole reading reviews of this breeder I chose and almost everyone reported very high hatch rates, many lost only one and ever a number of reports of 100% hatching! Some of those were first timers like me so I’m going to do everything I can to be successful, including continuing to reach out and learn from those of you more experienced! I’m going to purchase her “egg armour” and insulation and hope all goes well!

 

[FunClucks]

Good luck! Let us know how things turn out, now I'm curious!

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Thanks! As I am setting the dates for my preorder to be delivered I’m looking ahead 21 days…

Can someone walk me through when I need to be fully available to tend to the hatching? Like how busy am I going to be that week leading up to the hatching?

 

[FunClucks]

Thanks! As I am setting the dates for my preorder to be delivered I’m looking ahead 21 days…

Can someone walk me through when I need to be fully available to tend to the hatching? Like how busy am I going to be that week leading up to the hatching?

Depends on your incubator. With my NutureRight360 I checked water levels twice a day, then was around more the last 3 days to check on hatchings. Sometimes I had them hatch on Day 20. Also was around for the next 3 days after day 21 to attend to late hatchers and newborns in the brooder. Then, once all chicks are in the brooder, food and water twice a day, 3x a day if you can manage it to change out the water, but 2x a day will work. At 4 weeks I transition my chicks to horizontal nipple waterers instead of dip-beak chick waterers. The horizontal nipple waterers can be made from old gallon containers, water bottles, pretzel or cheese puff containers, etc. with straight sides and large screw on lids if you can find it. They keep water much cleaner and prevent leaks in the brooder, and make it so you have to fill/change the water much less often. Then at 6 wks out they go to the coop.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Depends on your incubator. With my NutureRight360 I checked water levels twice a day, then was around more the last 3 days to check on hatchings. Sometimes I had them hatch on Day 20. Also was around for the next 3 days after day 21 to attend to late hatchers and newborns in the brooder. Then, once all chicks are in the brooder, food and water twice a day, 3x a day if you can manage it to change out the water, but 2x a day will work. At 4 weeks I transition my chicks to horizontal nipple waterers instead of dip-beak chick waterers. The horizontal nipple waterers can be made from old gallon containers, water bottles, pretzel or cheese puff containers, etc. with straight sides and large screw on lids if you can find it. They keep water much cleaner and prevent leaks in the brooder, and make it so you have to fill/change the water much less often. Then at 6 wks out they go to the coop.

Ok so what would the busiest time be?

What incubator would you recommend? I need one to fit 24 of course.

 

[FunClucks]

Ok so what would the busiest time be?

What incubator would you recommend? I need one to fit 24 of course.

Nurture Right 360 is great. Space for 21-22 eggs, you put the others on top in between the two rows, then hand turn 3x+ (odd number per day) in the first week until you throw away clears, then the eggs on top get a spot in the turner. Risk is that all develop and you don't have space in the turner and have to hand-turn the whole hatch (very low probability for shipped eggs). There are other options out there, but NR360 has great durability, easy to clean, very reliable, and temp and humidity measurements on the gages are generally very close if not spot on to actual measurements (best to test and calibrate if needed regardless of what unit you get - NR often doesn't require calibration b/c it's close enough to correct). Temp and humidity stabilizes quickly with the NR360 and I can open it multiple times a day if needed without issue. There are a number of Articles and threads on this site that talk about various incubators. Brinsea is another good manufacturer, but more $$$ than NurtureRight360. If you haven't hatched before, best to start with a reliable incubator. A lot of the amazon ones have high variability and other issues, and if you're hatching $$$ shipped eggs, you want high probability of success.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Nurture Right 360 is great. Space for 21-22 eggs, you put the others on top in between the two rows, then hand turn 3x+ (odd number per day) in the first week until you throw away clears, then the eggs on top get a spot in the turner. Risk is that all develop and you don't have space in the turner and have to hand-turn the whole hatch (very low probability for shipped eggs). There are other options out there, but NR360 has great durability, easy to clean, very reliable, and temp and humidity measurements on the gages are generally very close if not spot on to actual measurements (best to test and calibrate if needed regardless of what unit you get - NR often doesn't require calibration b/c it's close enough to correct). Temp and humidity stabilizes quickly with the NR360 and I can open it multiple times a day if needed without issue. There are a number of Articles and threads on this site that talk about various incubators. Brinsea is another good manufacturer, but more $$$ than NurtureRight360. If you haven't hatched before, best to start with a reliable incubator. A lot of the amazon ones have high variability and other issues, and if you're hatching $$$ shipped eggs, you want high probability of success.

This is sounding like my best option right now, I just worry about having 24 eggs and there only being the 22 spots. Ugh!

Is it pretty straightforward to set up and figure out? Automatic humidity?