Incubating eggs

**sweetpea** · 26-Nov-06, 02:43

Is it cruel to hatch ducks and chickens in incubating machines. I was given a machine from someone who didn't want it, but won't know if it works until I pop some eggs in it. I feel quite cruel for doing that.

unicorn · 26-Nov-06, 15:07

I don't see how it is cruel you are giving a fertilised egg a chance to become a living bird. I imagine you would need to learn all about it first
you may find some info here and I notice it has a messageboard also so You could ask lots of questions before you try.
http://www.shilala.com/incubating.html

**stewart4364** · 29-Nov-06, 13:02

No it is not cruel to incubate eggs but you need to know what you are doing. Does the incubator you got have automatic turning and humidity facilities? If not the eggs will have to be turned by hand and this has got to be done probably every hour or so. Humidity also has to be controlled fairly accurately. The usual incubation temperature and humidity for the majority of birds is about 37 degrees Centigrade (the best temperature is actually 37.4 degrees Centigrade) and the humidity initially is about 40% but just before hatching this has to be increased to probably about 70 or 80 %. If you have automatic turning this is normally stopped about 2 days before hatching (you would obviously need to know what the incubation period for the particular type of egg you are incubating. I have been keeping birds for about 30 years and incubating eggs from various types of birds for over 10 years but unfortunately not poultry. Another method is to get hold of a bantam and she will likely take all the hard work away from you. Hope this is of some use to you and I wish you all the best however you decide to do it.