Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[brizee]

Hi everyone

Having had chickens for a while now I'm wanting to expand, but I wanna do it from scratch.

Where's the best place to get advice from regarding egg sourcing, equipment and everything else.

I'm scouring the forums but just seeing if anyone knows where I can sort it all in one place.

Also any advice always appreciated and are there some breeds more suitable for newcomers to hatching there own chicks.

Thanks

[Redwing]

Pekins are easy to hatch generally and the eggs usually have good fertility too. The chicks are easy to sex at about 5 weeks old so also makes things easier. Silkies tend to hatch quite well but are harder to sex

 

If you want large fowl then Sussex, Rhode Island Reds, Marans and Welsummers are all pretty trouble free

 

There are a few places that hire out incubators and provide the eggs too but I would suggest hiring or buying an incubator then sourcing eggs locally rather than getting them posted

 

A decent incubator makes all the difference, the Brinsea mini is a good machine for a budget amount and the Brinsea Octagon is one of the best small machines, dont be tempted to get a huge cheap machine as they run very inefficiently with only a few eggs

 

Bear inmind that you will get some cockerels so have a plan for those

 

I am not sure when you plan to hatch but if I were you I would wait until next April/May. Chicks hatched now will not have the daylight hours to mature very well (breeders use artifical light to raise hatches in Autumn and Winter) fertility in hatching eggs starts to increase from March so if you wait until April/May you have the benefit of longer days and a higher chance of getting chicks