Hatching your own baby chicks is one of the most heartwarming and exciting experiences ever. Whether you’re doing it with your family, classroom, daycare, or farm, the moment that first chick breaks through its shell is pure joy.
If you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own flock, this guide will walk you through the process — and when you’re ready for more detailed, printable instructions, download my Hatch a Lovely Chick: Complete Hatching Guide for the full day-by-day walkthrough.
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
To start, you’ll need a few key items to make sure your hatch goes smoothly:
• Fertilized chicken eggs (you can order from a trusted source like Lovely Hen)
• A reliable egg incubator
• A digital egg candler
• An automatic egg turner
• A brooder kit for newly hatched chicks
• Pine shavings for bedding
• Chick probiotics and electrolytes for health support
• Chick Waterer (no-spill, shallow rim)
• Automatic Chicken Feeder (crumbles-friendly, waste-reducing)
Make sure your incubator is cleaned and sanitized before adding eggs — bacteria can harm your hatch, so take your time on this step.
Trusted Partner: Lovely Hen
Lovely Hen’s Fertilized Hatching Eggs Collection offers a premium selection of fertilized eggs ready for incubation to grow your flock. Sourced from healthy, well-cared-for hens, these eggs are ideal for anyone looking to hatch their own chicks. With a variety of breeds — Ameraucana, Polish Leghorn, Frizzle, Silkie, Blue Cochin, Barred Rock, Maran Mixes, and more — you’ll be sure to build a beautiful and diverse flock.
You can also shop our best-selling Barnyard Mixed Hatching Eggs, which includes 12 fertilized eggs in a colorful mix of breeds, carefully packaged and shipped fresh from our farm. Start your poultry journey with Lovely Hen and watch your chicks hatch and grow from the ground up!
Step 2: Set Up Your Incubator
Temperature and humidity control are everything when it comes to a successful hatch. Keep the temperature steady around 99.5°F (forced air) or 100–101°F (still air). Humidity should stay between 40–50% during the first 18 days, then increase to 65–70% during lockdown.
It’s best to use an incubator that maintains consistent heat and humidity automatically. Here are two great options to consider:
• Brinsea Mini II EX Fully Automatic Egg Incubator – This model features a built-in digital temperature and humidity display, automatic egg turning, and precise controls that take the guesswork out of hatching. It’s perfect for classrooms, families, and small farms who want professional results in a compact size.
• Farm Innovators Digital Egg Incubator – This incubator is another dependable choice with automatic temperature regulation, an easy-view window, and a digital display that shows both temperature and days to hatch. It’s great for beginners or anyone hatching multiple eggs at once.
Both incubators make it easy to keep your settings accurate without opening the lid and losing moisture or warmth.
The Hatch a Lovely Chick Guide includes printable temperature and humidity tracking logs so you can monitor your progress and ensure your chicks develop in the perfect environment.
Step 3: Candle Your Eggs
Around day 7 and again on day 14, candle your eggs to check for growth and development. This is when you’ll see tiny veins and movement inside the shell — it’s truly amazing! To do this, you’ll need a bright Egg candler that lets you see inside without overheating the egg.
If you find any eggs that are clear or have stopped developing, remove them carefully to prevent bacteria from spreading to the healthy ones.
Step 4: Lockdown and Hatching Time
At day 18, it’s time for “lockdown.” That means stop turning your eggs and raise the humidity to help chicks hatch safely. Around this time, you may hear faint peeping or see small cracks forming — that’s called “pipping.” It’s tempting to help, but try to be patient. Hatching can take up to 24 hours or more.
Need detailed guidance for this stage? Download the Hatch a Lovely Chick: Complete Hatching Guide for a full day-by-day schedule, printable logs, and troubleshooting tips for every part of the process.
Step 5: Brooder Setup and Chick Care
Once your chicks are dry and fluffy, move them to a warm brooder box with clean bedding, food, and water. You’ll need:
• A brooder box or enclosure
• A heat source (a brooder plate is safer than a heat lamp)
• Pine shavings for soft, absorbent bedding (avoid cedar—it’s too strong for chicks)
• Chick starter feed
• Chick Feeder (narrow trough or anti-waste ports; designed for crumbles)
• Chick Waterer (shallow drinking ring; low spill; easy to sanitize)
• Chick probiotics and electrolytes packets to boost immunity and hydration
• Vitamins or antibiotics powder for chicks
- For all classes of poultry
- Boosts the immune system corrects Vitamin deficiencies improves antibiotic response
- Helps appetite poor hatchability eases shipping strain and heat stress
- Provides more growth reproduction & resistance to disease
- Age range description: All Life Stages
Keep the brooder around 95°F for the first week, lowering the temperature by 5°F each week after that as they grow. If they huddle together, they’re too cold; if they spread out away from the heat, it’s too warm.
Why these two tools matter so much: a Chick Waterer with a shallow rim prevents spills and reduces drowning risks in tiny chicks, keeping the brooder dry and warm (wet bedding chills chicks fast). A well-designed Chick Feeder limits waste, keeps crumbles clean, and helps every chick access feed, which supports steady growth and reduces picking. Raise both feeder and waterer slightly on a small platform as chicks grow to keep bedding out.
💛 Replace pine shavings every few days to keep the brooder clean and odor-free.
Your chicks will need fresh water daily, balanced nutrition, and plenty of warmth to stay healthy. The probiotics and vitamin packets can be added directly to their water for extra support during their first weeks.
Order Bearded Silkie Chicks Here!
Step 6: Watch for Healthy Growth
By week two, you’ll notice feathers coming in and chicks getting more active. This is the perfect time to sprinkle a little chick grit into their feed to help them digest properly.
Keep providing chick probiotics, fresh bedding, and constant access to water. A small coop thermometer inside the brooder can help you maintain ideal temperatures as the chicks grow.
Get the Complete Hatch a Lovely Chick Guide
Everything in this post covers the basics, but if you want the full instructions, printable checklists, troubleshooting for things like pasty butt, dehydration, and stress, and adorable diagrams to help every step of the way, get the complete guide for just $10.
Download the Hatch a Lovely Chick: Complete Hatching Guide today and hatch happy, healthy chicks with confidence! It’s perfect for families, classrooms, after-school programs, or first-time hatchers.
A Cozy Home for Your New Flock 🏡
Once your chicks are fully feathered and ready to move outdoors, they’ll need a safe, charming space to call home. One of my favorite beginner-friendly options is a little red chicken coop that fits up to three hens — it’s stylish, durable, and perfect for small backyards or family flocks.
This adorable coop is under $125, easy to set up, and adds a pop of farmhouse charm to any space. It’s the perfect combination of cute and practical — a cozy little home your chickens will love and you’ll love showing off.
Shop the little red chicken coop here.
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Final Thoughts
Hatching your own chicks is such a beautiful experience — it teaches patience, care, and the wonder of new life. Whether you’re hatching for fun, for your farm, or to teach little ones about nature, every chick you hatch feels like a small miracle.
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