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Questions?
Frequently asked questions
General
From fertile eggs, carefully handled and stored, to the best hatching equipment on the market, we do our best to make sure your hatching experience is easy and successful!
Talk to any hatcher and you will hear stories of cheap and finicky incubators with hot spots and wiggly thermostats that need to be adjusted by the millimeter to work properly, all leading to disappointment or unhealthy birds.
We have compiled the most automatic equipment that will simplify and take any guess work out of hatching.
The incubator you will receive is fully set at the correct temperature with forced air circulation that leaves no hot spots and constantly adjusts for outside temperature fluctuations. It features a full window observation top for viewing and educational purposes. It comes with an automatic egg turner, reducing your work load and possible contamination on your eggs.
Also supplied is a clear chick brooder set up for enjoying and observing your chicks for one more week. It comes with a chick sized fountain feeder and waterer reducing your feeding and watering work load, all the bedding substrate you need, and all the chick starter feed your that your hatchlings will require for the first week of their lives.
To get the most out of your hatching experience we also include educational materials for preschool and elementary age children. Our package includes daily embryo growth updates, educational books, hands on activities, and work sheets.
Your Chicken Hatch a Batch package includes:
1 hovabator incubator with observation top
1 automatic egg turner
2 dozen fertilize hatching eggs
1 clear observation brooder box with lid
1 heat lamp with bulb 1 fountain chick feeder
1 fountain chick waterer
Bedding substrate
Chick starter feed
1 hatching manual with instructions
Reproducible educational materials including hands on activities
2 elementary age educational books
At Morning Star Farm we have been raising and crossing our own perfect mix of chickens for our family flock for the last ten years and we are very pleased with our birds.
We cross Lavender or Chocolate Laced Orpingtons, Barred Plymouth Rock, Americauna, and Black Copper Marans.
The Orpington breed is a big bodied, beautiful bird. We love them because of their phenomenal temperaments. They are very quiet natured, hearty, easy to handle, and great with children. They lay a large light brown egg.
The Barred Plymouth Rock is a dual purpose breed that gives are birds a lot of size. They are very large bodied and lay very large brown eggs.
The Americauna is a bird that brings a lot of joy to the mix. Americana’s lay a rainbow of egg colours, from a gorgeous blue to a deep, dark green. They also often feature adorable fluffy cheeks. They tend to be a little less hearty and little flightier, but combined in a cross we find we can get the best of both worlds.
The black copper Maran is a new addition that we couldn’t resist because of the dark copper eggs add to the mix.
Altogether we select for good sized, cold hardy birds for the north, quiet, gentle temperaments the whole family can enjoy and enough of a variety of egg colours to bring delight to our kitchen basket. Two dozen Morning Star Farm hatching eggs are included in your experience.
If you would like additional eggs to hatch they can be included for $20 per dozen. Our incubators hold up to 41 eggs. If you have your eye on a particular breed of chicken you are welcome to purchase and use an outside supply of fertile hatching eggs.
We Know that not everyone is set up to have chickens!
There are a few different options to do with the chicks you hatch.
First of all, chicks are always welcome to come back to our farm. When the incubator and supplies are returned at the end of your experience, the chicks are welcome back too. Some chicks will live out their days here in our family flock and others will be sold to other families and farms.
We know kids can get attached to them so you are always welcome to keep them for your own flock if you are in the position to keep them.
You are also welcome to sell them as layers to another farmer or homesteader. This can provide you with a bit of income to cover the cost of your hatch experience.
Your hatch experience requires an investment of $195.
We also ask for an additional fully refundable deposit of $200 before the equipment is supplied to you. This is paid back fully when the borrowed equipment is returned on time, undamaged and clean.
Late equipment is subject to a $20 per day late fee.
Dirty equipment is subject to a $30 cleaning fee.
Any equipment that is damaged or broken will be replaced at retail cost and the balance of your deposit will be returned to you.
Hatching eggs is a complicated business and although we strive to line everything up to be as productive as possible, we cannot guarantee a successful hatch. Factors such as, bird fertility, egg contamination, incubation temperatures and humidity and even power outages can effect your hatch.
If you get an unsuccessful hatch we offer a 50% off hatch experience to be rescheduled as we have availability.
Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch and we include everything you need to enjoy your chicks for an additional week, so your rental is a 28 day adventure.
If you are enjoying your hatch with a school, preschool or day care, we recommend starting on a Tuesday, this allows your lockdown to be on a Friday evening and go though your weekend.
Your hatch day will be on Tuesday, likely with those first exciting peeps being heard on Monday for everyone to enjoy.
Enthusiasm!
And besides that, you will need space to set up your incubator and brooder. Both require a draft free place with a stable temperature. The incubator requires two plug ins and the brooder heat lamp requires an additional plug in. Everything you need for hatching is included.
We have not included a light for candling your eggs but a strong flashlight or headlamp will do the trick.
We strive to keep the hatching process as simple as possible.
You will set up the incubator and load it with eggs and water.
During the hatch you need to maintain the humidity by adding water as needed.
You are welcome to candle and observe the eggs in their development.
On day 19 you candle the eggs and lock down the incubator before hatching. After hatching you set up the brooder and transfer chicks to it.
After hatching, the chicks need to be monitored for correct temperature and to make sure they have food and water continually.
A guide to hatching is included in your package and it clearly outlines each step that needs to be done.
Absolutely!
As parents fight the clutter and build up of stuff that overwhelms, more and more parents and grand parents are turning to experiences as the perfect gift!
Hatching Experiences creates a life event that will never be forgotten. If you have an animal lover, science enthusiast or anyone who learns best with the world at their finger tips, this is the perfect opportunity.
Simply fill out the contact sheet on this page and we will get back to you!
Please include the month that you would like to hatch during, whether you would like extra eggs, or will be hatching your own source.
Once booked and paid for, cancellations and rescheduling can be made up to 10 days before. Any cancelations or rescheduling made within ten days before the start of your hatch are subject to a $25 cancellation fee.
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