How Do I Place a Chicken Egg in an Incubator?

The Incubator

• 1

  Choose your incubator. There are a variety of private use, or home incubators, you can choose from. Home incubators range in price from about thirty to one-hundred dollars. A common home incubator is made of Styrofoam. They are lightweight and square so will sit easily on a shelf or tabletop. You can get a good Styrofoam incubator for about forty dollars at your local farm and garden supply store. Most incubators are designed with a heating element and viewing window, which allows you to check temperature and humidity levels without lifting the incubator lid. The incubator you choose will largely depend on how many eggs you want to hatch. Small incubators usually hold two to six regular eggs. A Styrofoam type can also hold about two dozen chicken eggs--more if you are hatching small, bantam chickens.

• 2

  Choose a location for your incubator. Find an area well protected from children and pets. Too much jostling can damage or interfere with even heating of the eggs. Also select a place free from drafts. Fertile chicken eggs need consistent heat and humidity to develop properly.

• 3

  Set up your incubator. Follow your incubator instructions closely. Some incubators have fans that force air circulation while others are still air incubators--relying on vents to circulate air. Air circulation helps the developing chicks to breathe since oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged through the egg shell. It also helps regulate temperature and humidity levels. So, it is important to follow the manufacturer's directions to achieve a successful hatch.

  Some incubators come with a thermometer and hygrometer to measure temperature and humidity levels. You can also buy these instruments from your farm supply store. Place these so they are at egg height and visible through the incubator's window. If your incubator uses regular light bulbs, start with a low-wattage bulb until you know whether you will need to adjust the temperature. A forty-watt bulb is a good place to start.

• 4

  Test your incubator. Plug it in and allow it to come to the right temperature and humidity. Chicken eggs incubate best at one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity of around fifty-five to sixty percent. This is the same environment a brooding hen keeps when hatching her own eggs. Once the incubator reaches the optimal conditions, let it sit for a day. Keep a close watch that it can maintain the right temperature and humidity. If there is too much variation you may need to reposition your incubator, adjust the heat source or ventilation.

Placing the Eggs

• 5

  Mark the fertile chicken eggs with an "X" on one side. A black grease pencil or crayon works well. This will help you keep track when turning the eggs during the day. You can also buy an egg turner--a tray-like device that sits inside the incubator and turns the eggs for you. A mother hen routinely turns her eggs. You will need to turn them about every eight hours to ensure good air, heat distribution and uniform development of the embryo.

• 6

  Place the eggs on their sides in the incubator with the "X" up. Arrange the tapered ends slightly down. Close the lid quickly to avoid disrupting the optimal conditions you have worked hard to achieve.

• 7

  Turn your eggs to the side without the "X" in eight hours, keeping the tapered end slightly down. Continue this process for about eighteen days. During the final three days of incubation, don't turn the eggs at all. This will allow the chick to prepare and position for pipping.