Ovatekly · Owner's guide
The 21-Day Hatch Guide
Everything that happens between the day you set your eggs and the day the chicks come out, in the order it happens. Keep this open on your phone next to the incubator, or print it and tape it to the wall.
Before you set a single egg
Most hatches are decided before the incubator is even switched on.
- Get eggs from as close to home as you can. Fertile eggs travel badly. A local breeder or poultry club beats a parcel every time.
- Let shipped eggs rest 12 to 24 hours, pointed end down, at room temperature, before setting them.
- Set clean, uncracked, normal-shaped eggs. Do not wash them: washing removes the protective bloom.
- Choose the room first. A spare bedroom beats a garage. What kills hatches is a room that swings cold at night.
- Run the incubator empty for 12 hours in that room and watch the display settle before you trust it.
Temperature and humidity
| Stage | Temperature | Relative humidity |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 to 17 | 99.5–100 °F (37.5–37.8 °C) | 45–55 % |
| Day 18 to hatch | 99 °F (37.2 °C) | 65–75 % |
Your Ovatekly leaves the factory set to 100 °F (37.8 °C), which is right for a fan-forced incubator. Humidity comes from the external bottles, so you top it up without ever opening the lid.
One thermometer is a guess, two are an argument. If you want certainty, put an independent thermometer at egg height for the first day and compare. Trust the one you calibrated.
Day by day
Set up and stabilize
Incubator running empty for 12 hours, bottles filled, rollers spaced for your egg size. Message us a photo of the display and we will confirm you are ready.
Set the eggs
Load them, close the lid, note the date. Turning starts automatically every two hours. Expect the temperature to dip for an hour while the eggs warm through — that is normal, do not chase it with the dial.
Leave it alone
Check the display once a day and the water level every two or three days. Opening the lid to look is the most common beginner mistake.
First candling
Hold each egg to the built-in light in a dark room. A fertile egg shows a dark spot with veins spreading out like a spider. Clear eggs are infertile — remove them. Unsure? Photograph it and send it to us.
Growing
Same routine. The air cell at the blunt end grows a little each day; that is the egg losing moisture, and it is supposed to happen.
Second candling
You should see a dark mass filling most of the egg and a clear air cell. Remove any egg that has stopped developing or smells.
Lockdown
Stop the turning. Lay the eggs on their side on the tray. Raise humidity to 65–75 %. Close the lid and do not open it again, whatever you see. This single rule saves more chicks than anything else in this guide.
Pipping
The first crack appears. A chick can sit in a pipped shell for 24 hours while it absorbs the yolk sac. Helping it out now usually kills it. Wait.
Hatch
Zipping, then out, then a long sleep. Leave the chicks in the incubator until they are dry and fluffy, up to 24 hours. They live on the absorbed yolk and do not need food or water yet.
Brooder
Move dry chicks to a brooder at 95 °F (35 °C), dropping 5 °F a week. Unplug the incubator, wash the trays and rollers in warm soapy water, dry fully before storing.
Other species
The rollers adjust, the calendar does not. Lockdown is always three days before the hatch date.
| Species | Incubation | Lockdown on |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 21 days | Day 18 |
| Quail (Coturnix) | 17–18 days | Day 14 |
| Duck (most breeds) | 28 days | Day 25 |
| Muscovy duck | 35 days | Day 31 |
| Turkey | 28 days | Day 25 |
| Goose | 28–34 days by breed | 3 days before |
| Guinea fowl | 26–28 days | Day 24 |
Duck and goose eggs benefit from a daily cooling and misting from day 7, which mimics a mother bird leaving the nest. Ask us and we will walk you through it for your breed.
When something goes wrong
| What you see | Usually means |
|---|---|
| All eggs clear at day 7 | Infertile eggs, or a rooster too young or too old. Not the incubator. |
| Development stops around day 10 | Temperature swings, often a cold room at night. |
| Chicks fully formed but dead in shell | Humidity too low during lockdown, or the lid was opened. |
| Chicks hatch early and small | Running too warm. |
| Chicks hatch late, sticky | Running too cool, or humidity too high through the first 18 days. |
| Sticky chicks glued to the shell | Humidity spiked after pipping. Leave them, do not peel. |
You are not alone for these 21 days. Send us a photo of your display or a candled egg and a real person answers — from the day you set your eggs until they hatch. That is what Hatch Support is for, and it is included with every Ovatekly.