What to think about before planning to hatch eggs

Once February is upon us anyone with poultry is keen to get on with hatching chicks for the season ahead. A chick hatching is a magical sight and brings with it exciting anticipation as to whether it will be a brilliant egg layer or great example of a pure breed.

However, there is much to think about before deciding to put eggs in an incubator or under a broody hen. The cost of keeping poultry continues to increase and with the Futures Trading price for wheat around £150 per tonne before delivery, any poultry feed this Spring is not going to be cheap. Whatever the formulated feed we purchase some grain will be included, even if in the form of wheat flour. If you are raising chicks then they need the specialist chick crumbs to give them a good start in life. Crumbs, for whatever species of poultry, will cost more than adult feed and these can range from just over £11 for a 20kg bag to over £13 for some of the well-known national brands.

When calculating the anticipated cost of keeping chickens you should allow around 37.5kgs of chick crumbs for 25 chicks over a five week period. At this age the chicks are introduced to grower pellets or grower mash, which they will be reared on for the next 13-14 weeks. During this time 25 young birds will go through at least 190kg of grower ration. Once the birds are 18-19 weeks they will not be far off laying and layer pellets or mash will be required. Expect laying adults to eat around 125g of feed per bird per day. This is a guide for formulated feed and some wheat for afternoon feed will be extra.

Litter must be taken into consideration as well with shavings generally being between £7- £8 per bale. A warning here: bedding overall is looking likely to be in high demand and the price set to escalate dramatically as so much is being bought up by the heating industry.

All poultry, from chicks through to layers will need to be kept clean so removing soiled litter and replacing with clean shavings is a cost that has to be taken into consideration. Veterinary products such as anti-mite spray, Flubenvet wormer and louse powder will all need to be entered into the financial calculations and if everything exceeds your budget then the answer is not to incubate too many chicks.

To safeguard against the cost of more birds spiralling out of control be very clear about why you want to incubate eggs and whether you need to. I'm certainly not saying don't incubate but time taken to establish just what you should be incubating from and how many chicks are required will be time well spent.

One of the downsides of incubating is that usually more males than females hatch out. At day-old they are all cute little fluffy chicks - but once they begin to grow there will be the dilemma of what to do with excess cockerels? You could possibly be lucky if you have a wonderful example of a rare breed and someone is looking for a cockerel of that breed to introduce new blood into their breeding programme. Many poultry auctions will not accept cockerels on their own and for the few that do, the birds go for only a pound or two with a very uncertain future. It is far better to get the cockerels culled as soon as you can be sure that they are male.

New incubators are not cheap, even small ones but if looked after should provide you with many years of service. Unless you have an automatic turning incubator you will need to manually turn the eggs three or five times a day. This is essential for normal development of the embryo. The incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days, with turning required until day 18. It may seem simple enough to turn the eggs manually and it’s not a difficult task but they must be turned at the same time each day, which commits you or someone you can trust to be at home and keep to the daily routine, which can be surprisingly difficult at times.

Newly hatched chicks require a heat lamp and need to be contained in a housed area where they are safe and cannot escape and get chilled. Looking after very young chicks is quite a commitment. If a broody hen has incubated them she is doing much of the work herself in keeping the chicks warm but if they are under a heat lamp they must be checked at regular intervals during the day. Chicks need to feed and drink at regular intervals and can soon get digestive problems if this doesn't happen. Drinkers will require cleaning several times a day as tiny chicks defecate anywhere.

Ask yourself if you have time to look after more chickens? Keeping six to a dozen chickens is not that hard, however, once you get carried away with more and more, the situation can change and you could come to the point where you are resenting the time it takes to look after them all, which would be a great shame.

If you decide to incubate because you are replacing older birds or wish to keep another breed be sure that the hatching eggs you get are from the birds and breed that you want. It can be a lottery when buying fertile eggs because they are not normally sold where you can see the parent stock. By the time you find out the eggs are cross breeds it is too late so it is important to buy hatching eggs from a reputable source.

Incubating eggs can become addictive leading to the day when you realise that you are overstocked. Be strict with yourself and work out exactly what you do or do not want to hatch this year and stick to it. The birds will then have the attention they need and human contact that can make them a pleasure without having to stretch the financial budget or workload.

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This article first appeared in Smallholder magazine. Make sure you are the first to read it by subscribing or buy your copy from your local newsagent.