Table Of ContentHatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks
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back, left two eggs; © Mark Mosrie: back, author; Mars Vilaubi: back, right two eggs; ©
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appear on page 239
Illustrations by Bethany Caskey, except for chart, page 212, by Ilona Sherratt Indexed by Samantha Miller
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Damerow, Gail.
Hatching & brooding your own chicks / by Gail Damerow.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61212-014-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Poultry. 2. Chicks. I. Title. II. Title: Hatching and brooding
your own chicks.
SF495.D36 2013
636.5—dc23
2012013937
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Chicks
Part 1
1 Acquiring Your First Chicks
Selecting a Chicken Breed • Care to Give Turkeys or Guineas a Try? •
Choosing Ducks and Geese • Finding the Hatchlings for You • The Right
Time for Chicks
2 Setting Up Your Brooder
Brooder Features • Ready-Made Brooders • Homemade Brooders • Housing
for Tween-Age Birds • Providing Heat for the Little Ones • Controlling Light
3 Managing Water, Feed, and Bedding
Providing Water • Providing Feed • Brooder Bedding
4 What to Expect as They Grow
Early Chick Development • Day Trips and Camping Out • Separating the
Sexes Instinctive Behaviors
5 Hatchling Health Issues
Contagious Diseases • Sudden Death • Physical Defects • Environmental
Sickness
The Eggs
Part 2
6 The Broody Hen
Broodiness • Brooding Facilities • Managing the Broody Hen • The Hatch •
Foster Moms: Not Too Picky • Discouraging Broodiness
7 Selecting an Incubator
Egg Capacity • Turning Devices • Airflow • Temperature Control • Humidity
Control • Ease of Observation • Ease of Cleaning • Incubator versus Hatcher
8 Eggs for Hatching
What’s in an Egg? • Egg Selection • Egg Sources • Clean Eggs Are a Must! •
Egg Candling • Egg Storage
9 Operating an Incubator
Adjusting Temperature • Adjusting Humidity • Ventilation Ensures Oxygen
Supply • Egg Position and Turning • Embryo Development • Egg Culling •
The Hatch • Cleanup
10 What Went Wrong?
Record Keeping • Breakout Analysis • Troubleshooting the Hatch Issues
Affecting Hatchability
11 Hatchling Identification
Embryo Dyeing • Egg Separators • Identification Methods
Appendix: Screwpot Notions
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Resources
Index
Interior Photography Credits
INTRODUCTION
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? I mulled over this conundrum while
deciding how to organize this book. A certain logic seems to dictate starting with
eggs and incubation. But that entails an awfully steep learning curve for the
poultry-keeping newbie.
Because the more common scenario is to start a flock with chicks from the
local farm store or ordered by mail, I chose to begin this book with details on
acquiring and brooding chicks. By the time the pullets start laying, you are
comfortable with brooding and raising chicks, and excited by the possibility of
hatching some of their eggs.
Other folks start out with grown-up hens, as did I. When I bought my first
house, I wanted to make sure it was zoned for chickens, and what better way
than to buy a place that came with hens already installed! Come spring I was at
the farm store, heard peeping, and couldn’t help bringing home a boxful of fluffy
chicks to raise. The folks at the store provided helpful information on how to
brood chicks in a cardboard box using a light bulb for heat. What they didn’t
point out is how fast chicks grow, and how soon they need a bigger — and then
an even bigger — cardboard box.
CHICKS HAPPEN
While I was brooding those chicks, I noticed that one of the buff bantam hens
that came with the house had disappeared. Lo and behold, one day she
reappeared, trailing a dozen fluffy yellow peepers. How did that happen? And
hey — why can’t I hatch chicks from my own hens instead of buying them at the
farm store?
So began my quest to learn all about hatching the eggs of not only my
chickens but also the ducks, geese, guineas, and turkeys that have populated my
barnyard over the years. Pretty soon I became known as “the lady with chickens
in her living room” — not the greatest idea because of all the dust baby birds
make. One day I lucked out and ran across a used galvanized box brooder at a
reasonable price, which allowed me to safely brood hatchlings in the garage.
Later I found a deal on a couple of battery brooders, which let me brood greater
quantities of birds. I was in poultry heaven. My husband and I have since made a
wide variety of brooders and have settled on custom designs that work best for
us in our situation.
Meanwhile I learned how lucky I was to have a setting hen so early in the
game, as not all modern hens are into motherhood. I have since looked after
many a broody hen and her hatchlings and still occasionally get surprised by a
stealth setter. Chapter 6 discusses the ins and outs of working with setting hens.
I have also learned to use a variety of incubators, starting with the minimalist
galvanized steel models — affectionately known as tin hens — once sold by
Sears, Roebuck, and working my way through an array of tabletop and cabinet
incubators of many shapes, sizes, and features.
WHY HATCH AND NOT BUY?
So why would anyone bother hatching eggs in an incubator when hatchlings are
so readily available from local breeders, farm stores, and mail order? Here are
some of the many reasons: • You wish to maintain a sustainable flock that
acclimates to your particular locale • You are working to restore an endangered
breed
• Your chosen breed may not feature reliable setters or good mothers • Your
facility’s conditions may not encourage broodiness
• Local wildlife or household pets may disturb the hens’ nests • You may wish
to keep your hens laying, which stops when they start setting • You are trying
to produce the perfect show bird
• You want to raise hatchlings outside the normal brooding season • You want
more hatchlings than your hens are able to hatch
• You are seeking a fun and educational activity for your children or students
The decision to use a mechanical incubator is not necessarily either/or. I let
my hens set whenever one gets the urge because I enjoy the sight of a hen
