[chuckie.egg]

I have some hens and a cockerel on my allotment, and am getting fertile eggs.

I have bought an incubator, and my question is how much time do I have to get the freshly laid eggs into the incubator?

Do the eggs have to be kept 'hot' in this time, or could I put in 'cold' day old eggs?

[Aunt Sally]

Welcome to the forums

Why do you want to hatch them chuckie.egg  ?

[chuckie.egg]

Thanks.

I want to breed my own chickens, but dont have a clocker so I bought the incubator.

[Aunt Sally]

Will the chickens be for eggs and meat ?

[chuckie.egg]

Eggs - yes, meat - no.

I have 7 brown hens and an Ancona Cockerel.

[Aunt Sally]

What will you do with the boy chicks that hatch ?

[chuckie.egg]

Probably sell them or give them to others on the allotment.

[chuckie.egg]

Does anyone know the answer to my original question?

[Aunt Sally]

You mean sell them or give them away for meat ?

We have a few hatchers on the forums and one will answer your question as soon as they read it so do be patient and have a read around the forums

[meterman]

All aunty is trying to say is that you will have aprox 50% cocks and no one will want them even for free so you will have to dispatch them or know someone who will.out of 11 chicks 6 cocks kept 1 ate 5.
Now for your question a hen lays 1 egg per day she lets cool each day until she has a full nest then she stops laying and then sits to incubate(so they hatch on the same day) so yes 1-5 day old eggs are fine but as they age their fertility drops hope this helps

[chickenlady]

Hi there! your eggs will be good for up to a week store them in a cool place (not the fridge though) poited end down in an egg tray, i tend to prop 1 end of the tray up so its tilted 1 way then i move it so its tilted the other way 3 times a day! this stops the yolk settleing in 1 place! As others have said you will get an average of 50% cockerals and sometimes even if they are pure breeds you cant give them away!! i have had a hatch and out of 5 that hatched 4 were boys! so you do need to think about that too ! hope this helps

Debbie

[chuckie.egg]

Thanks very much for that meterman and Chickenlady!

I do know someone who would be able to 'dispose' of any boys, but that would have to be my last resort.

Thanks for the advice all!

[Kate and her Ducks]

I've hatched eggs up to 10 days old with good fertility and love raising them. Would however strongly advice thinking hard about what you will do with the boys. You normally get slightly over 50% males and that it said to be greatest and the begining and end of the season (don't really understand why  ). You are highly unlikely to be able to give away cockerels unless they are pure-bred. You are at the end of the season which gives you another problem in that chicks need heat at the best of times for a significant length of time (about 5 weeks from what I understand) and this will be harder at this time of year. 3 weeks to incubate, minimum of 5 weeks under heat which takes you to almost Oct and then pretty awful weather to be trying to get them outside (coz the weather has been so lovely now! Not!). Might be best to think about the spring.

[Aunt Sally]

Have you read our hatching information topic ?

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=42631.msg502083#msg502083

[woodside farm]

I never hatch eggs over 14 days old, the longer you leave them the less fertile they are, also I never incubate eggs that are layed the same day.
This time of year it is fine to hatch eggs if you can keep them indoors for longer than 5 weeks after they hatch, it depends on the room you have, saying that I have found that anytime of year you might need to keep chicks indoors longer,  British weather  .

Michelle xx