FAQs

Below you’ll find answers to some common questions.

Should I Rest My Eggs?

We do not recommend “resting” eggs. Instead we suggest you remove the eggs from their foam box, sit them in an egg carton to gradually come to room temperature for perhaps an hour, and then get them straight into the incubator.

The theory behind letting posted eggs sit for 24 hours before commencing incubation is that it can restore air cells if they’ve been damaged by rough handling in transit. We know of no scientific basis for this belief. As far as I am aware, a detached air cell cannot reattach. Meanwhile the eggs are getting older and we know for sure that hatchability decreases with the age of the egg.

If anything, vertical incubation (pointy end down, fat end uppermost) may assist eggs with detached, displaced or “saddled” air cells. You may wish to candle the eggs prior to incubation and adjust your technique accordingly if you see air cell damage. Air bubbles rise to the top. The vertical orientation works with this natural buoyancy to keep the air cell in the fat end of the egg where the baby chick is expecting it to be when it internally pips and takes its first breaths.

Some incubators like the Brinsea 28Ex and 56Ex incubate vertically all of the time, holding the eggs in trays that tilt to either side.

What Incubator Settings Should I Use?

In my Brinseas I incubate at 37.5°C and 45% humidity for days 1-18. For lockdown (days 19-21), I increase humidity to 65%.

Incorrect humidity is the cause of many problems with hatching. Marans in particular do not fare well with too-high humidity. The ability to reliably control humidity is why we use, recommend and sell only Brinsea fully automatic temperature and humidity-controlled incubators.

Further settings: I set automatic turning to hourly. I use periodic cooling for 30 minutes per day from days 7-18.

Remember to turn off turning and periodic cooling at lockdown, when you remove the eggs from the trays and place the eggs on their hatching mat.

When Should I Candle?

Experienced candlers can detect developing embryos within a few days of commencing incubation. A pitch-black room and a Brinsea High Intensity Candler makes this much easier.

We recommend candling on day 5 for blue eggs. For dark-shelled eggs like Marans and olives, we recommend waiting until day 10 to candle. Earlier than this, it’s easy to make mistakes. At the very least, don’t make any final decisions or remove eggs before day 10.

If in doubt, leave the egg in and reexamine later, as differences between good and bad eggs will become increasingly apparent.

You are always welcome to get in touch for help during incubation — or at any time. For candling demonstrations, check out our Instagram.

Why Don’t We Hatch Out Of Season?

There are several reasons we don’t breed year-round.

1. Rest is important — We disband our breeding groups until a few weeks before Spring. Hens need time to replenish their bodily reserves, depleted after a season of laying. Roosters need down time as much as hens.
2. Chicks hatched out of season approach sexual maturity as days lengthen. This is the opposite of what happens for spring chicks that come into lay as days shorten. This daylight pressure can induce premature laying, associated with an increased incidence of reproductive disorders like egg binding and vent prolapse. 
3. Fertility and lay rates are naturally lower out of season when birds are designed to be taking a break. Eggs being sold in winter may well be coming from pullets. We do not breed from pullets. For the strongest chicks, we hatch only from mature hens that have proven their health and vitality.
4. We don’t expose our flock to artificial lighting to trigger winter laying. Extending the season not only puts undue stress on the hens, but compromises the quality of the eggs produced both now and in Spring. 
5. There is a reason animals raise their young in Spring when conditions are most favourable. What we know teaches us to trust nature and respect her rhythms for all that we don’t yet understand. 

Can we override nature? Yes, but there are always consequences.

Got a different question? Ask away.