There’s something quite amazing about the process of an egg becoming a chick. Raising your own chooks from eggs gives you a wider choice of the breeds you keep, as you can get fertile eggs sent to you more easily than live birds. If you want to experience the miracle in your own back garden, you’ll need some fertile chicken eggs and a broody chook or incubator.
I think it’s easier to use a hen to hatch eggs. The chicks also turn out healthier when they are looked after by mum (or a surrogate mum), but you can get good results if you’re diligent checking even a basic incubator. Bantam hens are meant to make the best mothers. Older hens tend to be better than those less than a year old. From time to time you’ll see hens for sale on Trade Me, although they can be scarce in Wellington.
Just make sure if you decide you want to keep chooks that you actually like them. You’ll be seeing them at least once a day for the next few years so you’ve got like spending time with them about. I sell fertile rhode island red eggs from about September to March for $15 for a half dozen so email me if you are interested in buying some. I don’t have chicks or pullets for sale.
