Expert Advice for Every Stage of Poultry Keeping

Candling eggs allows you to monitor the development of the embryos inside the eggs. By candling eggs through the incubation process, it is possible to estimate the hatch rate before the chicks hatch. Candling Fertile Eggs The best time to candle eggs is at 14 days into the incubation period. It's always best to use a purpose-built egg candler, as trying to candle eggs without a proper egg candler can give inaccurate or misleading results. For the most accurate results, eggs

When the time comes to start, expand, or introduce new bloodlines into your flock, the quickest and most simple method is to purchase live poultry. Live poultry offered for sale is usually classified into one of the following age groups: Day-old chick = A chick that will be sold within a few days of hatching (not always exactly one day old). It's possible to tell the sex of some breeds as soon as they hatch, while other breeds cannot be sexed until they are a few months old.

The process of raising chicks that you have hatched yourself or purchased as day-olds depends on whether they were incubated using a hen or brooder. This Poultry Australia guide contains information on raising chicks using a brooder or hen. Raising Chicks using a Brooder If you are not using a hen to raise your chicks, a confined area called a brooder will be needed to keep them in for their first few weeks. The best brooders are made from large chipboard boxes with an open

Setting up an Incubator Before setting your fertile eggs in an incubator let it warm up and ensure that the temperature read-out is 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) for a fan-forced incubator, or 39 degrees Celsius (103 Degrees Fahrenheit) for a still-air incubator. Many incubators sold today have automatic turning and temperature adjustments. If your incubator does not have an automatic turning function, then make sure the eggs are turned at least twice per day f

Council Regulations Before starting your flock, the first step is to check whether your local council has any restrictions or regulations on keeping chickens. Many councils limit the number of chickens you can keep in a suburban backyard. Most metropolitan councils allow you to keep at least five chickens without a permit. Some councils impose other rules, such as requiring the chicken coop or run to be a certain distance from boundary fences. It’s also common for there to be