THE BEST HATCHING AND REARING GEAR
Hatching and rearing your own chicks is magical, enthralling and totally addictive. The process is MUCH easier and less stressful if you have the correct incubation and rearing gear. Below are my favourite products and those I’ve had the most success with when it comes to hatching and rearing chicks.
INCUBATORS
MY RECOMMENDATION is the Ovation 56 EX Fully Automatic Egg Incubator with Humidity Control.
Brinsea are my favourite brand of incubator due to their fantastic hatching results. I levelled up my hatching game using this product. If you want a professional and hands-off incubator with high results, this option is for you.
Product includes:
Automatic egg turning
Digital humidity gauge
Covered waterwells for both humidity control and chick protection
Digital temperature gauge
Even spread of heat to encourage maximum hatch rates
Egg baskets that will hold a range of eggs from quail and chickens, to ducks and guinea fowl
I won’t lie - Brinsea products aren’t cheap and it’s why I did without one for a long time. However, it’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. You can check out the Ovation 56 egg incubator on Amazon and compare prices between different, smaller models which might suit you needs better.
BEST ALTERNATIVE is the R-Com MX-20 Plastic/Metal Model Max 20 Automatic Digital Auto-Turning Egg Incubator
A good alternative if you cannot afford a Brinsea is one of the R-Com models. Though I haven’t used these personally, I know many friends who’ve had great success with them. They make a great option if you’re looking to hatch fewer eggs at a cheaper price point.
Product includes:
Automatic egg turning
Digital humidity gauge
Digital temperature gauge
Universal egg tray to accommodate various egg types including quail, chicken and duck
The incubator featured here - the R-Com 20 automatic egg incubator - can hold 52 quail eggs, 20 chicken eggs or 10 goose eggs. As with Brinsea, there are a variety of options and prices on Amazon. Click here to check them out and see if this incubator is right for you.
INCUBATING ACCESSORIES
Titan Incubators High Intensity LED Chicken Egg Candler/Tester – Battery Powered
If you’re using one of the incubators above, you can be fairly confident about your hatch rate. However, it is still worth taking the time to candle your eggs - that is, shining a light into them to check development.
Candling helps:
Check fertility
Stop bad eggs exploding and contaminating the batch
Ensure air cell growth occurs properly
Allows to check for potentially stuck chicks that may require helping
The Titan Egg Candler is ideal for this job and easily available on Amazon. Check it out here ahead of your hatching programme.
Little Giant Incubator Thermometer Kit Temperature Measure for Inside Incubator When Incubating Eggs
Personally, I’m not a fan of relying solely on the digital temperature gauge. You can monitor humidity via air cell growth. But you cannot monitor temperature so I like to add a small thermometer to my incubator as a back up. This helps:
Ensure digital gauge is displaying correctly
Check temperature flow throughout incubator by moving glass thermometer around to ensure the same heat.
Though this isn’t necessarily required for all eggs if you’re hatching some expensive - emus, peacocks or ornamental pheasants, for example, you’ll want to know your incubator is working properly.
These thermometers are inexpensive and can be bought conveniently on Amazon.
REARING
Rural365 Chick Heating Plate Brooder Plate - Brooder Heat Plate for Chicks and Ducklings with Adjustable Height
I used various methods of keeping chicks warm over the years, initially utilizing bulbs. I now only use a Rural365 brooder plate. This are not only cheaper to run, but don’t create an unnatural environment with artificial light. They are adjustable so you can use for newborn quail chicks or larger ducklings.
The brooder plates can be bought quickly on Amazon and offer an excellent way of keeping young chicks warm and healthy so they grow fast.
MACGOAL Flip Top Poultry Feeder Trough Baby Chick Feeder Plastic Chicken Feeder No Waste Spill Proof for Birds Small Poultry (Red)
Chicks are messy as hell and if you give them a dish of food, most of that crumb will end up in their bedding covered in poop. For that reason I always use a spill proof feeder such as the one pictured. This limits chicks’ ability to spread their food everywhere, keeps it clean and helps you raise healthy, happy chicks.
You can find these here on Amazon.