A couple of years ago we decided to "down-size" our life-style. The kids were grown, I was burnt out on the Corporate Job. So, we bought a smaller house, a bigger piece of land and a bigger chicken coop. We decided to create more of our own food. Chickens provide eggs, income and healthy home-grown meat.
When I want to hatch eggs and my hens are not cooperating by setting on eggs, I incubate eggs to hatch chicks. It is a pretty interesting process.
First I decide which eggs to hatch and I put them into the incubator. The normal incubation cycle for chicken eggs is 21 days.
*photos by @whatsup
For the first 18 days, the eggs sit in the incubator where the egg turner gently tips them from side to side, to prevent the growing chick from sticking to the side of the eggs. I monitor the eggs and the temperature in the incubator.
By a process called "candling" you can shine a bright light on the eggs to check and see if the chicks are developing inside the egg.
*picture from http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-candling
On day 18, the eggs are candled and those with proper development are moved into the hatcher.
The hatcher provides a constant temperature and a high level of humidity the eggs require to hatch.
Between day 18-21, the chicks begin to work their way out of the shell. They start by creating a small hole in the egg with their beak. Once the hole is created the chicks turn inside the egg in a process called "zipping", They slowly cut the shell using their beak to saw through the egg and hatch.
Chicks emerge from their shells tiny, wet and tired. They can often look a little wimpy when they first come out.
Chicks freshly hatched
Brand new freshly hatched chick.
Once the chicks are out of the shell they require only food, water and heat to survive. Their instincts take over from there. After a couple of hours the chicks have dried off, fluffed up and are looking for food and water.
I hatch a few hundred chicks per year. They are raised to sell or add to my flock.
Regardless if you have chickens are not, the process of incubating and hatching eggs is interesting, and heck everyone loves pictures of chicks. (okay, not like kittens, but close)
@whatsup