From egg to chick

It takes 21 days (give or take a few days) for chicks to hatch. I have incubated many times, and I have lent out my incubator for others to enjoy the process of hatching their own eggs. For the most part, I allow the natural process of hens raising their own chicks to play out. But, when I have to increase a low supply of chickens or I get fertile eggs from another chicken owner to hatch out, the incubator is my tool. You may know of someone who has an incubator that you may borrow. I’m on my second one……The first one I lent to our little elementary school for the kids to learn about hatching, and then it was lent to other folks wanting to hatch eggs for their own flocks. I bought my second one on Amazon and it was just like my first one. The larger box holds about 40 eggs and has 2 great viewing windows, and automatic egg turner, and a heater. Basically all you have to do is add water, watch the eggs turn, and monitor the temperature and humidity (instructions in the box).

Under normal farmyard situations, when a hen becomes broody, she just stays in place and has the “thousand yard stare”. When this occurs, I try not to disturb her, but after observing abandoned nests, I now reach underneath the hen gently and date the first eggs with a pencil if possible. This method gives me a better idea of a hatch date. I recommend wearing gloves and long sleeves because hens don’t particularly appreciate hands wriggling underneath their bellies in search for eggs. I have been reprimanded many times with a sharp beak hitting my arm.

There are coop antics when many hens are roaming around……some may just take advantage of the broody hen and jump into her nesting box and lay an egg so they can go back outside while she has mothering detail. Others want to help her hatch and will cram into the box with her, sometimes pushing her out. When chicks start appearing and become curious; other hens will take on the “auntie role” and will teach the chicks to drink and show them where to find food. The broody hen continues to sit and keep the rest of the eggs warm until all are hatched and she can care for the remaining chicks. I have used broody hens to my advantage and have placed other eggs underneath them, allowing them to hatch out naturally. Our coop had a mix of chickens, geese, and muscovy ducks (which are technically geese). The chickens would even take advantage of a broody goose or duck and lay their own eggs in with the others!

There have been times in the past where we let a broody hen sit on eggs and all of a sudden she jumps off the eggs and abandons the nest with a week left before hatching. In this situation, you may still be able to put them into an incubator. No incubator you say? Well a warming box can be quickly put together with a cardboard box, a bowl of water for humidity(placed inside the box), a heat lamp (attached to a sturdy object above the box)and a couple old T-shirts or towels laid over part of the box to keep the heat in. If the floor is cold, place the box on an old towel, or styrofoam. This will also protect your floor if the cardboard box becomes wet. Keep in mind that heat lamps are pretty darn hot, so you want to keep the area in the box at approximately 99 degrees F. A thermometer in the box is very helpful. Don’t let the heat lamp come in contact with the cardboard box or the towels because it could cause a fire. I rig my heat lamp securely to a folding chair so that I can move the lamp closer to or farther away from the box to maintain the right temperature. Eggs need to be turned, so marking them with a pencil (if you haven’t already) will give you a reference point as to how many times you have turned each egg. “Candling” the eggs helps to get a visual idea of what’s happening inside the egg. Candling the eggs at 7 and 14 days are good times to see if the egg is viable. You will see the red veins appear inside the egg and will even notice a chick inside during the later candling. White eggs are easier to see through than brown eggs, but it is still possible to see through the darker eggs. An easy way to candle is to make the room dark, have a flashlight handy, and carefully pick up each egg and hold the flashlight right against the egg to make it “glow”. Be careful not to jostle the eggs too much and please do not drop them! There is great hatching information on the internet. I’m just writing this to help someone who may be interested in incubating eggs or who finds themselves in a mid hatch abandonment predicament.

One other item to note, is the struggle to bust out of a shell is that of the chicks alone. You should not interfere or help remove the shell from the bound up chick inside. This is all part of the growing and strengthening process of the chick. Just make sure that the humidity levels are high enough that the shells will give way to their efforts of struggle while emerging from their former home. You may find yourself clucking like a hen or answering their peeping (they peep inside the shell) to cheer them on! At first there will be small triangle bits, then a line that bisects the shell, and then a few stretches between rest breaks and they will emerge! Patient observation is necessary. They have to gain strength to keep themselves upright as they dry off , take a nap, hop a bit, nap again, try to walk a straight path, nap again, fluff themselves out, nap again…….they nap a lot & it’s well deserved!

There are times when our geese and muscovy ducks have abandoned a newly hatched gosling or duckling. I have gathered these little ones up and have used the same type of warming box, but without the need for the large bowl of water for humidity control. They do need a lower type of bowl for drinking water however. Make it sturdy because they will step in it and make sure to have an old towel or styrofoam sheet under the box to prevent the floor from being ruined. **All chicks, goslings, & ducks by 3 days old, need to know how to drink water. You must teach them by gently dipping their beaks into the water quickly and then allowing them to put their head back to swallow.

The warming box is lined with newspaper which makes for easy clean-up. Placing feed directly on the newspaper floor of the box, makes it easier for chicks to peck and scratch at will. Later the feed can be set into dishes or feeders.

If you do not want to partake in the hatching of chickens but are thinking of raising a few…..now is the time to look to your local feed stores. In Prescott: Olsens, CAL Ranch, or Tractor Supply should have spring chicks peeping under heat lamps ready to take home. I just happened to be in CAL Ranch and ended up adding some hen chicks to my incubated batch (which will probably be a 50/50 mix of roosters and hens). If you want to order more than a few and different types, I have used Murray McMurray with great success for geese and chickens. They will have a minimum shipping order (I think 25 baby chicks) because they keep each other warm during shipping. You will still need to set up a warming box for the chicks and teach them how to drink.

I had a great partridge rock hen who loved to hide her eggs in my garden come springtime. She didn’t want any of the nonsense of the other hens in their nesting boxes, so she walked into my garden and would choose a safe and hidden spot each year. My favorite spot was under our kids red wagon that I used to haul things around the garden. Another time she surprised me with 15 chicks walking out from under a blackberry bush while I was planting seeds. She did not let me near the chicks and often came rushing at me with beak and feet. I kept my distance and just brought her extra feed and water so they didn’t have to walk back to the coop at night.

I will be honest and say that while experiencing the miracle of a hatch, there will also be the pain of watching a few that will not thrive and will end up dying in the warming box or incubator. I take these outside and bury them in the soil of a fenced garden (so that wild predators can’t dig them up). Any eggs that do not open at the end of a hatch, I also remove to the garden and bury them where they will feed the soil. This process of life and death is the same for a broody hen who hatches out her eggs. Some of the chicks will not remain alive. This is a reality we all must face. Everyone will face dangers, illness, struggles, and eventually death. Agrarian folk understand the value of life as they care for their livestock and the reality of loss from wild animals or other people’s dogs left to wander unsupervised.

Chickens are a great way to teach children about the food they eat and the lessons of life. Many people are far removed from agrarian culture, but chickens could bridge the gap as they are accepted into many towns and cities. Society & marketing have concealed the preciousness of life with regards to the foods placed into shopping carts. Chickens are birds; they breathe, fly, walk, eat, mate, groom themselves, are social, are protective, have their own communication, and interact with others. They are not just cut & labeled white meat covered in plastic, wings in a freezer bag, chopped & breaded nuggets or chopped meat formed into dinosaurs. Someone took the time and effort to raise or hatch the birds, feed them everyday, protect them from predators, gather eggs, and perhaps even took the life of the birds so that they could be eaten by others. If nothing else, I hope you will consider where your chicken or eggs come from and maybe change your buying habits to support local small farmers or those who truly pasture their flocks and allow them to live like a chicken should.