Watching eggs hatch is like being witness to one of the world’s biggest miracles.  I don’t care how old you are or how much you’ve seen in your life, when you watch a little bundle of feathers break free from its imprisonment to spring forth into a new life, you will be touched.  Incubating eggs can be a fun and economical way to start your own flock of chickens or raise some more exotic birds.  The nice thing about birds like chickens is that they are able to eat on their own as soon as they hatch.

Incubating eggs can be an excellent learning opportunity for both kids and adults alike.  Care must be taken to keep the humidity and heat levels just right, and the eggs must be turned every day to make sure they develop properly.  It doesn’t take much time, but you do need to be able to commit to spending a little bit of time each day to caring for the eggs.  That first pip, or the hole a bird makes in the egg when it is ready to hatch, makes the whole process very worthwhile.

If you have chickens already but they are not willing to set their eggs, you can take their fertile eggs and hatch them yourself.  This is a great way to increase your flock with stock you already know about, versus the risks of commercial hatchery birds and their unknown background.

If you are handy, you can make your own incubator, but you can also buy a complete setup with lights, egg turner and air fan for about $150 at your local farm store.  Look on Craigslist to get them for a fraction of that price.

Incubating eggs is a fun experience for the whole family, and one I look forward to doing again this year to help teach my children about the miracle of life.