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Incubator Hire Home

Have the excitement of watching chicks hatch at home before your very eyes. The exact day the chick will hatch can be planned, so what an unusual Birthday present for a child or grandchild! Our incubators are fully automatic and only need regular topping up with water. They could not be easier to operate and look after.

Hen chicks take 21 days to develop and hatch. A couple of days before hatching the chicks often start to cheep. That is when the excitement starts. A day before they actually hatch, the chicks make a first crack in the shell. This is known as pipping. You will see the chick’s beak working, in short bursts, to make the hole bigger and ultimately break the shell open to enable it to struggle out. Within minutes the newly hatched chick will gain in strength before your eyes and start to dry out and fluff up. Within hours you will have a gorgeous fluffy chick making its way around the incubators and cheeping to encourage its siblings to take the plunge and join the world. The chicks need to completely dry out and fluff up before being removed, which takes about 24 hours.

You have a choice at this point. If you don’t want to keep the chicks, that is fine, we will take them in with the return of the incubator. If you want to keep the chicks to grow them on to keep, or just to watch them grow a bit further we have brooder kits to hire. This will allow you to watch them grow, thrive and develop their adult feathers. You don’t have to keep them at this point, either, we will still take them back. If you don’t want to keep them permanently you have the choice of how long to watch their development. It takes about 5 weeks to feather up fully.

There will always be eggs that do not develop, or were not fertile in the first place. That happens, is part of life and is disappointing, but expected. The whole process is fun and exciting in its own right, but it can be taken to another level and made educational. There are various checks that can be made during the development of the chick in the egg and then as the chick grows and forms its adult feathers. These checks and measurements can range from weighing the eggs and chicks, to candling the eggs to look inside them, or charting the growth of the feathers. The activities can be tailored to suit the age of the child.

Hook Farm Incubator Hire will supply:

INCUBATOR PACK

• • Incubator – fully automatic and auto turning.
• • Instruction sheet
• • Candle Lamp
• • Poster showing the development of a chick
• • Support and advice if needed

BROODER PACK

• • Brooder enclosure, bedding, food, water drinker.

We do not supply eggs with the incubator. Ebay is often a good source of fertile eggs during the late spring to early autumn months.

The chicks will need warmth and chick crumbs until they grow their full feathers. This takes about 5/6 weeks.

Cost of hire

• 1. Incubator R-Com 20 Digital model & candle lamp, £57 per three weeks,
• 2. Smart 20 Auto model & candle lamp, £57 per three weeks.
• 3. Brooder pack, £10 per week, £25 for 3-5 weeks.
• 4. Books and support are hired free of charge.

Deposit required

• 1. Incubator R-Com 20 Digital model & candle lamp, £200
• 2. Smart 20 model & candle lamp, £200
• 3. Brooder pack, £30

The deposit can be paid by cash or cheque and will be returned in full upon the safe return of the incubator.

Contact Alison for availability by clicking on the Contact button at the bottom