Hatching At Home
Connecting kids to the wonder of new life
Our 4-week program gives you all the equipment and support you need to to incubate, hatch, and care for your chicks during their first week of life. No experience in hatching? No problem! Our videos, guide, and on-call support will make it easy. Our program is available for families, teachers, and homeschool groups in Sacramento and surrounding areas. (Want to start your hatching rental program? Go here!)
How It Works
1
Hatch
Pick up your rental kit from our farm in North Highlands or Shingle Springs. Incubate quail eggs for 18 days or chicken eggs for 21 days. Grab some popcorn and watch the show!
2
Enjoy
Place your chicks in the brooder box included with your kit. Watch your chicks as they snuggle under the heat plate, eat, drink, sleep, and play. You can hold your chicks for short periods.
3
Return
At the end of your 4-week rental, you'll return your kit to the farm. You can keep your chicks, give them away, or return them to the farm. Keeping chicks? We'll take your roosters back!
What You Get
1
Equipment
Chick-hatching rental kits include: fertile eggs • incubator • candler • brooder box • heat plate • feeder • waterer • feed • pads • bedding
2
Support
We make hatching easy!
Step-by-step hatching guide
Reminder emails & texts
On-call, live support
3
Curriculum
Elementary hatching curriculum
to use each week during your rental. Includes videos, fun educational activities, and recommend books.
FAQs
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Can I rent a hatching kit for my classroom?Yes. Please contact us once you have written permission from your principal (or a vendor application from your school district). We can invoice you, your school. our your district. Things to consider: To ensure a good hatch rate, your classroom temperature should not go below 50 degrees at night. Once the chicks have hatched, it's a best to take them home to care for them over the weekend. You can keep your hatched chicks, send them home with a student with willing parents, or return chicks to the farm. Our included curriculum is customizable to your classroom needs.
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Can I use vouchers from my homeschool program?Probably! We are an approved vendor for several homeschool programs in our area. Contact us for details. If your program doesn't allow vouchers to be used to purchase fertile eggs or feed, you may be able to use vouchers to purchase our Charter School Hatching Kit. (Eggs and feed are provided separately for no additional cost.)
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Can I share a rental with other families or homeschool group?Yes, families can go in together on a rental. We can invoice each family separately. However, please keep in mind that moving the incubator before hatching can harm the developing chicks. So we recommend leaving the incubator in the same spot until the hatch is complete. Once the chicks are moved into the brooder, they can be safely moved to another household, as long as the chicks are kept warm during the move.
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Can I choose what kind of eggs to hatch?Yes. You can let us know at checkout which type of eggs you'd like to hatch: chicken or Japanese (Coturnix) quail. If you want chickens and plan to keep them, you can choose to hatch a large breed or a mix of small (bantam) breeds. Learn more about breed choices here. You will indicate your preferences at checkout.
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Where do I pick up my hatching kit?Hatching kits are available for pickup from one of our farm locations: North Highlands Shingle Springs During the order process, you will choose one of our farm locations for your pickup. You will also indicate your preferred start date. Once you place your order, we will contact you to schedule your pickup and return date. Typically, you'll return your kit to the same location where you picked up.
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What do I need to do if I plan to keep my chicks?Contact us if you would like to extend your rental ($25/wk). If you want to keep your chicks, you will need to be prepared to care for them after you return your hatching rental kit. You'll need: a big box (a cardboard watermelon box from the grocery store or a plastic bin with high sides) a warming plate or heating lamp to keep your chicks warm. Quail need heat until they are at least two weeks old and chickens need it until they are about six weeks old. a chick feeder and waterer chick starter (chickens) or game bird chick starter (quail)