Chick Hatching Experience
Create A Memory That Will Last A Lifetime With Beth's Basics Hatching Experience
--How it works!--
Beth’s Basics provides everything you need for a successful hatch and 2 weeks of being foster parents to your newly hatched chicks. You can keep the chicks to start or add to your own flock, or we will take them back to stay with our existing flock or be rehomed to backyard chicken keepers in the Chicagoland area. This will be a lifelong memory for you and your family and we are so excited to help you experience hatching these baby chicks! Here is some basic information to help you understand the process. This is the BEST place to start.
What we provide:
Pre-programmed Incubator with 7 egg capacity
7 Fertilized eggs
Chick kit:
Container with cover (called a brooder)
Feeder
Waterer
Bedding
2 weeks of food
Heat source
--The Setup--
We rent the equipment to you for the duration of the hatching experience. You will pick up the items listed above on a scheduled day at our homestead in St. Charles. You set up the incubator with eggs according to our instructions and confirm that everything is operating properly by sending us a photo of the digital display on the top of the incubator. Our incubators are completely automatic. You will not need to plan to be home to rotate eggs or adjust temperature. Once the eggs are in the incubator you will only have to check the water reservoir located on the outside of the incubator to maintain the correct humidity for proper chick development. Now we wait!... The total incubation process takes about 21 days. In the second half of incubation, you may hear peeps, and under a watchful eye, may even see the eggs move as the chick turns inside!
--The Hatch--
Once your chicks hatch, they remain inside the incubator for around 24 hours to allow adequate time for drying and allow all the chicks that have developed to hatch. You will then transfer your hatched chicks to the chick kit. There they will stay for the next 2 weeks for your family to enjoy the antics of baby chicks. They will not like to be handled for the first 72 hours and children should refrain from picking them up during this time. This is a time to observe and let them become used to your presence. After the 72 hours is complete, you can begin to handle your chicks by taking out of the brooder and letting them explore. Keep in mind they will be unable to maintain their own body heat so this is best done in short intervals. If your chicks are clustering together or become very noisy, they are cold and should be placed back in their container to regain warmth.
*Please be aware a 100% hatch rate is very rare. It is likely not all eggs will hatch. Hatch rate depends on many factors*
--End of the Hatch--
We will have a drop off day scheduled with you at the time of your pick up for you to drop off your hatching equipment and baby chicks, if you have decided not to keep them. The drop off day is important not to miss to make sure the next family in line is able to have the same experience on their scheduled day. A late fee of $10.00 a day will be charged after a missed return dated. Please wipe down the tray of the incubator once the chicks are removed from the incubator or it can get a little smelly by the time your drop off day comes. DO NOT submerge the incubator lid with the display or any electronics or expose it to liquids. We will take care of any cleaning around or near electronics and the chick kit upon drop off. That’s it! It’s super simple for you to hatch your own chicks with the help of the chicks over here at Beth’s Basics. We are with you every step of the way. If you have questions during the hatching process you can first consult our FAQ page which answers the questions that we get the most during the process, or you can reach out to us directly via Facebook messenger where one of our expert chick hatchers can take care of all your questions. Happy Hatching!
--Cost--
There is a $50 non refundable deposit required at booking. The total cost to hatch is $150 plus tax.