The Flyte so Fancy Guide to Incubating Chicks
Natural Hatching or Artificial
There are two methods of hatching chicks - natural or artificial.
The natural way allows the mother hen to do all the work and bring up her brood until, like most teenagers, they are ready to (or think they can!) look after themselves.
The artificial way is to use a purpose-made electric Incubator, and there are many of these available, of various capacities. After hatching, keep the chicks in a Chick Brooder* until they are old enough not to need the artificial heat.
*A Brooder is simply a secure enclosure to hold the chicks with Brooding Heat Lamp, or heat source, above them to replicate the heat from the mother hen.
It may seem silly to say, but the eggs you are planning to hatch must be fertile, i.e. you have a cockerel in your flock that has mated with the hens.
Breeding chicks is normally best in the spring as the weather will become warmer, and they will be adults by the time the colder weather returns.
As a guide, with either method: Hen eggs take 21 days to hatch, duck and turkey eggs 28 days, most goose eggs 28 - 30 days.
Natural Hatching with a Mother Hen
Natural hatching under a broody hen is the ideal way to raise a few chicks (the mother hen does all the work for you).
It is, however, dependent on having a broody hen at the right time to hatch the eggs you want to hatch.
Some breeds of hens that are more prone to 'going broody' than others, e.g. Silkies, Pekins and Orpingtons love being broody all summer long.
Your broody hen will hatch eggs you put under her, or that she collects, and when hatched, treat them as her own, regardless of breed.
The above image is our Pekin Bantam sitting on Cornish Game eggs - below the chicks at about 4 weeks old. Watch our short 1-minute video showing this Bantam in our Broody Coop and the chicks she hatched, A Broody Coop for Chicks!
If you are using a purpose-made Broody Hen Coop, then she will be quite happy on her own, sitting on her eggs.
Try to make sure they are in a fox-proof area or secure run, in a quiet place away from other stock.
It is best for the hen, but be ready for the fact that the other birds will treat her as a newcomer when you return her to the flock.
The individual broody boxes should be at least 16ins (40cm) square and lined with chopped Hemp Bedding, Aubichick Bedding or Easichick Chicken Bedding (please don't use hay, it produces harmful mould spores). Dust the bedding with Diatomaceous Earth Powder, and ensure good ventilation.
Don't be tempted to put two Broody Hens together; they will steal each other's eggs and generally ruin a hatch.
The broody hen is best moved to the broody box in the dark to keep her sitting and left for a day or so on just a few unimportant eggs to ensure she is still serious.
When she has proved that she is 'sitting tight', put the eggs you want to hatch under her, gently, preferably after dark, removing the other eggs. From then, start marking off the 21-day (for hens) brooding period until hatching day.
Tip: She may/will seem unsettled if the new eggs are very different in temperature from those she is sitting on. If you can warm them with your hands, this would help.
If you want to sit more than one broody at a time, make sure either that you 'sit' the eggs on the same day so they all hatch together, or keep the broodies out of sight and sound of each other. The cheeping sound of new chicks will make the other broody get off her eggs if hers are not cheeping.
The broody hen should get up periodically to eat, drink, and defecate. Don't worry if you don't see her doing this, as some hens don't appear to leave the nest. This is why it's essential to make sure she has food and water within reach.
Try not to disturb her for the 3 days before the hatch is due. Food and water should be left within her reach but out of the reach of chicks.
In these final days, the eggs need to be at a perfect temperature and humidity, and she will have ceased turning them each day.
As soon as hatching is finished, which may take one to three days, remove any empty shells and unhatched eggs from the nesting box, and any muck the hen may have produced.
Try not to disturb her while the hatch is going on. Tempting though it is to see how many have hatched, her aggressive, protective maternal instinct will make her unsettled, and she will probably attack you.
Place a water container that the chicks cannot drown in - a small one-litre drinker with pebbles in the saucer works well - next to the nest so that any early chicks can drink. (See * below).
The yolk sac inside their bodies will sustain them for up to 24 hours, but make sure they have access to chick crumbs in a small feeder anyway. The mother will show them where to take food and water.
Artificial Hatching
This is the use of an Electric Incubator to hatch eggs. Small Incubators are regularly used by backyard chicken keepers to hatch just a few eggs.
The advantage is that incubation conditions are instantly available at the flick of a switch. It saves extra space for broody hens and takes little electricity to run.
If you don't have fertile eggs within your flock (because you don't have a cockerel), and can't obtain them from friends, try sites like eBay, as there are often breeders selling fertile eggs there.
We can recommend the Brinsea Incubator range. They are British-made high-quality incubators and start with the small Mini Eco for just 7-10 eggs.
Technical advances have greatly improved efficiency, but the best results will be obtained with eggs between 24 hours old and seven days old. Store them in a cool (10°C or 50°F) place and turn them daily (see note below about turning eggs correctly). Any dirt on the eggs should be removed so you have clean (sterilised) eggs in the first place.
When washing the eggs, use water that is just warmer than the egg, so the membrane under the shell expands, keeping bacteria out - cold water makes it shrink, drawing bacteria in.
Use a purpose-made poultry disinfectant or egg sanitiser like Net-tex Egg Wash & Sanitiser, which can be used to clean out incubators after a hatch. You can also use approved disinfectants such as Virkon S Disinfectant.
Properly sterilised incubators and eggs are very important for the success of future hatches. Lack of care at this point can lead to the death of the chicken at an early age or as they reach the point of lay.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions for using the Incubator, especially when adding any water to create perfect humidity.
Fertile eggs which do not hatch are frequently sticky inside if the incubation period has been too humid. Try and keep the incubator in a place that does not vary much in average temperature.
During the incubation process, the eggs must be turned for the embryo to develop normally (the hen does this naturally). Many incubators have an automatic turning mechanism. If turning by hand, do so at least twice a day, mark one side of the egg with a cross so you can see whether you have turned it each time.
When turning the eggs, make sure you roll them through 180 degrees one way (not end over end) and then next time, turn them back again. This is so that the chalazae (strings that hold the yolk stable) do not wind up, potentially damaging the embryo.
If the incubator has automatic egg turning, turn off the mechanism 2 days before they are due to hatch, or stop turning them by hand at this time.
A little warm water can be gently misted over the eggs when they start to pip (the diamond-shaped start of the shell breaking) to keep the membrane moist.
The chick pecks its way out of the broad end of the egg by means of the egg tooth, which is on the end of its top beak. The egg tooth falls off soon after hatching.
The eggs may take two days to hatch, or they may all hatch at once. Most small incubators have a window so that you do not have to take off the top to see inside.
To make the best use of incubator space (and broody hens' nest too), the eggs can be candled after seven days' incubation to make sure they are fertile and growing.
This involves holding a bright torch, or Candler, to the broad end of each egg in a darkened room. This check will allow you to remove non-fertile eggs and avoid disappointment that they do not hatch after 21 days.
Brinsea Products sells an easy-to-use Candling Lamp. If the egg is infertile, you will be able to see just the shadow of the yolk.
Rotate the egg slightly to make this move within it. If fertile, a spider shape of blood vessels will be seen on one side with the heart beating in the middle. If there is a ring of blood vessels with none in the centre, then the embryo has died.
If you candled the eggs at fourteen days, and the embryo is growing as it should, the air sac should be quite distinct and sharp from the darker remainder of the egg. If only a small dark area can be seen, the embryo has probably died, and the border between that and the air sac will be fuzzy.
The air sac gradually gets larger as the hatching date approaches, and sometimes the chick can be seen bobbing away from the candling light. Try not to use the light too often, as it will disturb the chick.
Rearing Chicks - Day Old to 6-8 Weeks
With modern equipment, rearing chickens in an incubator is a relatively easy process for the small poultry keeper.
If you have a broody hen to do it for you, then all you will need to do is to provide her with some baby chick crumb, water and shelter against wind, rain, and sun - preferably with a wire-covered run area so that magpies and crows cannot take the chicks.
Baby Chick Feeds need to be in a small chick feeder which they can't tip over or scratch the feed out of. Chick feeds have just the right balance of protein and vitamins to help them grow strong and gain weight.
*Water needs to be in a container that the chicks cannot drown in (chicks can drown or get very wet in a centimetre of water). Add pebbles to the saucer to avoid this. Most importantly, you want to make sure they don't get wet. Many chicks die of hypothermia from getting wet and cold.
Give a small amount of mixed corn for the hen, out of reach of the chicks. She may break the grain into small pieces for them, but the chicks may choke if given whole. Alternatively, give an all-round Garvo Chick Feed to suit both chicks and mum.
Leave the hen with the chicks for about six weeks, then take her away and back to the flock. Don't take the chicks away from their home or each other, as it will unsettle them. They can be transferred to a larger house and/or run when they are about eight weeks old.
Incubated chicks need to be moved from the incubator to a Brooder with an Infra-red Heat Lamp with an Infra-red Bulb to keep them warm. Or, one with a Ceramic bulb (Dull Heat Emitter) - this needs a Brooding Lamp with a GRP fitting - so that they have heat but not light.
The Dull Emitter helps to avoid feather pecking as they have natural light and darkness. Some of the more nervous breeds certainly do better with some hours of darkness.
Site the heat lamp in a draught-free place with a generous covering of absorbent bedding (see link above) on the floor or make a circle using an 8ft (2.4m) length of hardboard about 18ins (45cm) high around it.
We would suggest only a round brooding ring rather than a box (personal experience). The chicks could easily get trapped or squashed in the corner of a box, get cold and die - round brooders are best.
A roll of corrugated plastic can be bought inexpensively to make the brooder, or there are many purpose-made units on the market.
Chick Brooding units are also available to put inside the brooding ring instead of an infrared lamp. These are often far less expensive to run than infrared lamps.
The Brinsea EcoGlow Chick Brooder (from Binsea Products Ltd) is a single unit that emits very low heat and is often called an 'electric hen'.
It consists of a flat plate on a stand with adjustable height levels. As they grow, you raise the height of the plate. The chicks will huddle under it as they would a mother hen.
Transfer the chicks from the incubator to the brooder when they have dried and fluffed up, usually within 24 hours of hatching. Dip their beaks in the water so they know where to go to get a drink, again in a drown-proof drinker, and place them under the lamp or electric hen.
When using an infrared lamp, turn it on two days before the chicks are due to hatch.
It should be far enough off the bedding that the temperature under it is about 39 degrees centigrade.
If the chicks are too hot, they will scatter to the edges, panting. If they are too cold, they will huddle in the middle, cheeping loudly. The ideal is to have a small empty circle just under the lamp with the chicks moving freely in and out of the heat.
By 5-7 weeks old, they can come 'off heat', depending on the time of year, and be allowed outside within an enclosure.
By 8 weeks, they can gradually be introduced to the rest of the flock, carefully and in stages.
Allow the adult birds to see the chicks and get used to them, but only through a wire panel, so they cannot be attacked.
Trust your instinct as to when you can allow them to mingle for a few hours a day, but do watch carefully to avoid injuries.
Rearing Chicks - 8 weeks Onwards
Chicks become Pullets at around 8 weeks old (until say 16 weeks) - like teenagers, they want to stretch their wings! Ideally, you would still need to control their feeding.
At about 8 to 10 weeks old you can slowly introduce Poultry Growers Pellets to their diet.
These are larger than Chick Crumb and have the right balance of protein for this age.
They can be fed on Growers Pellets until they reach Point-of-Lay at 16-18 weeks. Then you would gradually move them to a Poultry Layers Pellet.
There are differing opinions on when (and if) chicks should be given perches to roost on. We would suggest not until they move into a larger house, or about 10-12 weeks old.
This does depend on breed, however. Large Breeds may not take to them until much later, and after laying has begun. As long as the perches are at least 2ins (5cm) wide, smooth and have rounded edges, there should not be the problem of bent breastbones from perches that are too narrow, and certainly the lighter breeds like perches (Note: Round rods/sticks for perches are not advised).
Don't force the chicks to sleep on the perches at too early an age; just make sure they are there if they want them. Perching/roosting after dark is a natural instinct for chickens. You should only have to monitor that they do eventually use the perches. However, for most standard breeds, they should be encouraged to perch from 16 weeks onwards if not already doing so by instinct.
Roosting on perches, to sleep - by wrapping their claws around the perch and resting the breastbone on it - is best for their legs, feet and breastbone. If they roost in the nest boxes at night, they will become very dirty (they poo all night long!).
A rearing house needs to be large enough so that all the chicks can shelter in it if the weather is bad, and allow space for a feeder and drinker.
If an adult hen house is being used, block off the nest boxes with cardboard (if it is feasible to do so), as roosting in a nest box is a habit that is hard to break later, leading to dirty eggs.
Young chicks and pullets should be kept under observation during their development period. Take precautions (by putting cardboard to round off corners) when moving stock to new houses so that they do not huddle in corners and get smothered.
Sexing Young Chicks
When chick fluffiness starts to change (depends on breed when this might show), new, sharply pointed, shiny plumage will be noticed on the backs of the males.
Often, you can tell which birds will be cockerels by their upright stance and attitude.
It is now time to consider separating the sexes and removing the cockerels to a house of their own (or to consider what you wish to do with them).
Breeds vary, but it is also possible to distinguish the sexes by their heads, the cockerels being redder and their heads bigger and bolder than those of the pullets. Also, the legs and feet of males are larger.
The plumage method is the most accurate because birds develop at different rates. However, with delicate birds like Silkies, a wait of at least 14 weeks will be necessary in order to determine from comb development which is which.
Feeding Baby Chicks
Take it as read that only good quality, proper poultry feeds are used to produce healthy chicks.
Feeding scraps tends to upset their system very easily, which has been proven over many years.
Chicks should be offered chick crumbs of 20-22% protein. Some brands of chick crumbs will contain a coccidiostat. This chemical helps to control coccidiosis and build up immunity to the parasite.
There is some disagreement about the use of coccidiostat in chick crumb, and we personally do not use this kind of feed - we prefer a 'drug-free' upbringing. It is a matter of personal choice, though.
Chick Crumbs should be fed ad-lib in a purpose-made Chick Feeder to avoid waste. There should be enough space for most chicks to feed at one time to avoid bullying. A Chick Feeder Trough is often a good idea for larger numbers of chicks.
By 8-10 weeks, introduce Growers Pellets over the space of a week.
When the birds reach about 16-18 weeks, they can be changed, gradually, to Poultry Layers Feeds of 14%-16% protein. This can be fed either as pellets or mash. We recommend pellets are the cleanest way to feed.
Water and Chick Grit should be available at all times from hatching. Fresh clean drinking water should always be in a small drinker, preferably with just a shallow, narrow saucer so that the chicks can't drown or get wet. Chicks drink very frequently and can quickly dehydrate if they run out of water.
Flint grit is needed to help the gizzard grind up the food, especially hard grain. From approx. four weeks before laying commences, Oyster Shell should be provided for calcium and to help the formation of eggshells. Light breeds start to lay at about five months, and heavier breeds at about six months.
Large adult fowl will eat about 4-6oz (110g-170g) of pelleted feed per day, bantams need around 2-3oz (50g-85g), according to size.
Mixed Poultry Corn can be scattered morning and afternoon as a scratch feed to keep the birds active. If they are not free-range, small amounts of green feed treat (a cabbage leaf) are always welcomed by the birds. Hang vegetable leaves to get the most benefit from them.
We hope you find this guide helpful, and if you have any queries, you can Message Us. We will be happy to help if we can.
Further Reading and Videos:
Rob's 5 Top Tips on Hatching Chicks
How to Raise Chicks with a Broody Hen - Ask Phill Video #20
Using a Broody Coop for Hen & Chicks - Ask Phill Video #31
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A Guide to Incubation & Chick Rearing ©Flyte so Fancy 2012. Updated 2025. Author: Anne Weymouth (Director, Flyte so Fancy Ltd). Reproduction of part or all of this text is only possible with the express permission of Flyte so Fancy Ltd.
