Incubation is mostly boring, which is exactly what you want. Stable temperature, appropriate humidity, and knowing when to leave eggs alone are what make hatches successful. Small adjustments matter, but patience matters more.
This guide covers how we incubate and hatch chicken, turkey, guinea, duck, and goose eggs on our farm, including shipped eggs, local eggs, and species-specific differences. This page reflects what has worked for us across many hatches, not a guaranteed formula.
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Chicks, turkey poults, and guinea keets follow nearly identical incubation requirements, though turkeys and guineas need an extra week to bake. This section covers the standard dry incubation method we use for all landfowl.
For when you’re tired and just need the numbers:
After unpacking shipped eggs or collecting local eggs, we candle every egg before incubation. This lets us catch obvious cracks or damage before anything goes into the incubator.
If eggs are dirty, we gently scrape off what we can. We avoid washing eggs whenever possible because the natural bloom (biofilm) helps protect the egg from bacteria.
The “Wet Sponge” Logic (Washing Eggs)
Eggshells have pores like a sponge. If you wash a dirty egg with cool water, the egg shrinks inside and sucks the dirty water (bacteria) right through the shell. Now the bacteria is inside with the baby.
Rule: Scrape dirt off. Don’t wash unless you have to, and always use water warmer than the egg.
Eggs rest on the counter for 12-24 hours. Shipped eggs rest wide end up. Locally collected eggs can rest on their sides. We prepare the incubator to 99.5°F and 45-50% humidity. We never rely on built-in gauges.
The “Shaken Soda” Logic (Shipped Eggs)
Shipping eggs is like shaking a can of soda. The air bubble inside gets scrambled. If you put them in the incubator (the “oven”) immediately, the air bubble might end up on the side or bottom, and the chick can’t breathe when it hatches.
Resting lets the bubbles float back to the top (wide end) where they belong.
Shipped eggs are not turned for the first 1-5 days to allow air cells to settle. Locally collected eggs are turned immediately. If turning by hand, rotate 180 degrees at least three times per day.
We mostly leave eggs alone for the first week. Around days 7-10, we candle weekly. Healthy eggs show veins early and gradually darken. Handle suspected dead eggs carefully – rotten eggs can explode.
We lock down shipped eggs one day early. Turning stops. Humidity increases to 65-70%. From this point on, do not open the incubator.
The “Oven Door” Logic (Lockdown)
Incubators are like ovens. Every time you open the door to peek, the heat and humidity escape instantly. The membrane inside the egg is like shrink wrap. If the humidity drops, the shrink wrap dries out and traps the chick like glue.
Sit on your hands. Don’t open the door.
We intervene occasionally, but assisted hatching is only about 50% successful for us. If we open the incubator, we lightly mist the air inside to maintain humidity. We stop immediately at any sign of blood – that’s a sign that the chick isn’t ready to hatch.
Once chicks are fluffed, they move to the Brooding Young Poultry setup.
Waterfowl incubation is not chicken incubation with tweaks. Ducks and geese require different humidity, cooling, and timing, and they tolerate far less interference. They hatch on their own schedule, not yours.
For when you’re tired and just need the numbers:
After unpacking shipped eggs or collecting local eggs, we candle every egg. We generally discard cracked eggs rather than trying to seal them.
Eggs rest for 12-24 hours. For waterfowl, eggs are best kept on their sides. If shipped eggs show detached air cells, we rest them upright or tilted to stabilize. We warm the incubator to 99.5°F with humidity around 50-55%.
Locally collected eggs are turned immediately. Shipped eggs rest 1-5 days before turning.
Starting after the first week, we begin a daily cooling and misting routine. Eggs are removed for 5-15 minutes and lightly misted with water.
The “Wet Hen” Logic (Misting)
A mother goose doesn’t sit on the eggs 24/7. She gets up once a day to eat, poop, and swim. When she comes back, her belly is cool and wet. This cooling/wetting shrinks the egg contents just enough to pull fresh air through the shell. We mist the eggs to mimic the wet mother goose.
Geese are unpredictable and may hatch anywhere from Day 25 to Day 35. Toward the end, we candle daily to monitor air cell drawdown.
We lock down shipped eggs one day earlier. Turning stops. Humidity increases to 70-75%. Do not open the incubator. Opening during hatch can chill wet babies or cause shrink-wrapping.
Assisted hatching has only been about 50% successful for us. If we must open the incubator, we mist the air lightly. Blood or chewing behavior means the baby is still absorbing nutrients – put the egg back and wait.
Once babies are fluffed, they move to the Brooding Young Poultry setup.