[t161tanya161]

Hi everyone!
We have 8 chickens in our back garden and I love them so much that father Christmas bought me an incubator so I can hatch my own chicks. The thing is, I'm really keen on doing this for a hobby but don't want to get over run with chickens I can't sell or find homes for.
I'm planning to hatch pure breeds and wanted to know if they will be easy to sell?
Any advice much appreciated!
Tanya

[joyfull]

not always, it depends on the breed and also the strain and quality. Also you will end up with about 50% of those that you hatch being boys and these are nigh on impossible to rehome (I have just culled 10 that I couldn't rehome and still have another 4 to do when I can catch them  ).

[kegs]

You could always hatch your own table birds - the taste is totally different from store bought birds and totally delicious.

[JaK]

I hatched our first chickens last year and was very lucky to only have three boys out of nine chicks , I sold one of them but had to dispatch the other two.  I also sold one of the girls which covered the costs of the hatching eggs, heat lamp...
I will hatch more in the future but will be hatching duel purpose breeds and raise the boys for the table. Do you think you could do the same?

[Tiggersmate]

I do the same as JaK and raise the boys for the table.

[t161tanya161]

Thanks everyone!
I have decided to use the boys for the table, and just keep everything crossed that we mainly get girls.
I have 19 eggs in the incubator at the home and from candling i think about 8 are developing. Is that a good rate for a first time?
They are due to hatch next saturday. How long do you have to keep them under a heat lamp for?
Many Thanks
Tanya

[kegs]

Probably quite a good ratio for the time of year.  You may also find that you end up with more than 8.

This is a helpful thread on incubating
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=52422.0

There's some info here on brooders
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-care/chapter-4-caring-for-baby-chicks.aspx

and I refer to this book a lot when incubating
http://www.poultry.allotment-garden.org/Poultry/Incubation_Birds/index.php

[t161tanya161]

Thanks kegs!
Im quite looking forward to raising my own chicks.
Would you keep all the eggs in the incubator until the end then? I was going to remove any that looked clear with 7 days to go, but to be honest I'm not really 100% sure there is nothing in them

[twigs]

You should see what looks like a small spider, ie a blob and veins radiating from it, you can see these from around day 3 onwards with a small torch or candler.

Selling hens on depends on how much you sell them for and where you live, I breed pure breeds but live in quite a foxy area so people arent keen to spend £20 on a hen if they fox gets them, we also have a couple of commercial free range egg producers, you can buy a ISA brown from them for £4

[kegs]

Thanks kegs!
Im quite looking forward to raising my own chicks.
Would you keep all the eggs in the incubator until the end then? I was going to remove any that looked clear with 7 days to go, but to be honest I'm not really 100% sure there is nothing in them

As Twigs said you should see the spider when you candle it.  Some shells can be very hard to see through though.  If they are obviously clear then I'd say they were probably infertile to begin with, especially considering the time of year.  Keep in any that you aren't sure of though and don't forget the book I mentioned as it will give you all of the information you need.  (Don't forget to stop turning the eggs or turn off the rocking mechanism at day 18.)  Good luck.