![]() An incubator must be monitored diligently chicks left too long after hatching will die of dehydration or pecking. On the whole, we find it best to leave hatching to the hen. You can hatch replacement chicks yourself with a home incubator. Bantams are famously broody a bantam hen will even hatch other hens’ eggs. Broodiness-the instinct to sit on eggs until they hatch-has been bred out of a lot of chickens, but we always had one or two who would begin to sit tight on the nest and peck if we tried to remove their eggs. Hens will lay perfectly well without one, but the eggs won’t ever develop or hatch. Check your zoning regulations some places allow hens, but not roosters. Of course, you’ll also need a rooster to get fertile eggs. If you already have chickens (or know someone who does), there’s always the option of hatching your own chicks. (“Battery hens” are not good candidates for a farm flock-they’re confined in tiny cages, debeaked, and made to produce so hard that they’re “laid out” at 2 to 3 years of age.) Unless you have someone with a small flock nearby who wants to replace older hens and will sell their “old girls” to you, chances are, you’ll have to buy pullets or chicks. Mature laying hens are harder to come by.These, too, can be ordered through your farm supplier from the hatchery. They can go straight to the coop and are all females. They’re more expensive than day-olds, but of course, you get your eggs sooner. Ready-to-lay pullets are 20 weeks old and just about to start laying.You’ll have to wait about 6 months for eggs. ![]() Most farm suppliers do one or two chick orders a year, so you can get your chickens where you plan to get your feed. Day-old chicks are available from hatcheries.
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