Once upon a time, before exhorbitant feed prices, foolish council statutes forbidding poultry-keeping and people whose sole purpose in life is to stop other people enjoying themselves, folks were able to keep a whole yard full of chickens and breed them as they wished. Life was simple... the hens laid eggs, then they sat on them for three weeks and then raised the chicks all by themselves.

But times change! Backyards have gotten smaller and land prices have gotten larger. So to breed chickens, it is often impossible to keep great numbers of hens to use for incubating eggs. So, our attention turns to methods of hatching chicks using artificial means of incubation. This article deals with small incubators and how to get the best results using them.

Incubation does not start when the eggs are placed under the hen or in the incubator. It begins much earlier than that. It starts with the parent birds, long before the eggs are even collected. Healthy chickens breed healthy chicks, so it is important to get the breeding birds as healthy and fit as possible. Select the birds to breed with and separate them into pens away from other fowls. Begin a special feeding regime about 6 weeks before the first egg is collected, providing a high protein ration, plenty of green feeds and a vitamin supplement if possible. This provides the birds with the necessary nutrition to produce protein-rich eggs which gives the embryo the best possible start to life. A tip for breeders of Silkies or other fluffy feathered breeds is to trim the feathers from around the vents of the breeding birds. This gives every chance of successful mating.

Once the eggs are collected, select only the best for incubation. Check each egg for shape and shell texture. Discard any which are too round or too narrow and any which have thin shells or fine hairline cracks. The ones which pass the test must be stored correctly. Eggs must not be kept any longer than seven days before beginning the incubation process. Egg shells are porous, which means those stored for too long begin to dehydrate, severely lessening the chances of a successful hatch. After an egg is laid, it cools rapidly, causing the embryo to go into a state of suspended animation. It is important that the eggs are kept at a sufficiently cool temperature to prevent incubation starting too soon. The eggs must be collected as soon as possible after laying, to prevent them getting soiled or damaged. Furthermore, eggs left in the nest begin the incubation process as they are warmed by the hens sitting on them while laying more eggs. The optimum temperature for egg storage is between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius. Any cooler and the embryo is unable to begin development when the temperature is raised and conversely, eggs stored too warmly begin embryo development, but as the temperature is not sufficiently high to continue the process, the embryo dies. Eggs which are in storage must be turned each day to prevent membrane and embryo damage caused by sticking to the shell.

There are two different kinds of incubators, still air and forced air. There are three basic physical principles for incubation which are the same for both types of incubator, however the methods used are different for each. The first of these priciples is temperature. Development of the embryo can only take place at the correct temperature. Too cool and the chicks hatch late and are generally soft and weak. Too hot and the chicks hatch early, may be deformed, have bloody navels which refuse to heal and are generally weak. The correct temperature varies depending on the type of machine is being used. The second principle is humidity. Without adequate humidity, the egg loses too much moisture; too much humidity the egg loses too little moisture. Again, this is variable between the two kinds of incubators, due to air flow and ventilation methods. The third priciple is egg turning. For many years it was believed that the hen turned the egg to prevent the embryo sticking to the shell membranes. While this is certainly one reason for turning the eggs, the main reasons are to float the embryo to fresh food within the egg and to move it away from its own wastes. To give the embryo the best chance, turning should take place at least three times each day and optimally more often. Eggs which are collected from breeding birds which have not been fed a high protein diet must be turned more often than those from well-fed stock. Now we have discussed the physical requirements of incubation, we must now turn our attention to specific types of incubators.

The still air type incubator is the more tricky of the two to set up correctly. All incubators work best in rooms with air temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and it is important that the room temperature is kept as steady as possible. The incubator must be set exactly level or temperature anomalies will occur inside the egg chamber. The temperature is set to 103 degrees Farenheit, which is very close to that which is found under a setting hen. The temperature of a still air incubator is measured at the same height as the top of the egg. Unfortunately, this means that eggs of different sizes cannot be successfully incubated together in a still air machine. Unfortunately, wet bulb thermometers do not prove successful in still air incubators, so humidity must be measured by regularly checking the air cell inside the eggs. Eggs which have air cells which grow too large indicate humidity settings which are too low. When turning eggs in a still air incubator, it is best to have an external turning mechanism. This means the egg chamber does not have to be disturbed too often, which results in excessive temperature fluctuations.

The forced air incubator uses a fan mechanism to move the warm air around the egg chamber. This means a wider range of egg sizes can be incubated together as the ambient air temperature is more evenly dispersed within the incubator. forced air incubators are usually set at 99 to 100 degrees Farenheit. Humidity setting can be accurately measured with a wet bulb thermometer with usual settings of 82 to 88 degrees Farenheit for setting and 94 degrees Farenheit and over for hatching. Egg turning is usually facilitated from outside the egg chamber by mechanical means. With both still air and forced air incubators, it is important to stop egg turning three days before the hatching date. For a detailed look at embryo development go here. To find out just what happens at the time of hatching, look here. For information on raising small numbers of chicks, go here.