About the Egg Incubation Calculator
This egg incubation calculator turns the date you set your eggs into a full hatching calendar. Choose the bird — chicken, bantam, duck, Muscovy, goose, turkey, Coturnix or bobwhite quail, pheasant, guinea fowl or peafowl — and enter the set date to see the expected hatch date, the day to stop turning and go into lockdown, and the best days to candle.
It is built for backyard flock keepers, classroom hatching projects and small breeders who want to mark the key days on a calendar before the incubator is even switched on. A day-by-day milestone table shows what is happening inside the egg and what you need to do, from the first candling to raising the humidity for hatch.
Incubation periods are averages for a forced-air incubator held at about 99.5 °F (37.5 °C). Eggs often pip a day early or late: cooler temperatures, old eggs and still-air incubators tend to delay hatching, while running hot speeds it up. Day 0 is the day you set the eggs, so a chicken egg set on a Sunday is due three weeks later, also on a Sunday.
How to use the egg incubation calculator
- 1Choose the type of egg you are incubating (or pick Other and enter the days).
- 2Enter the date the eggs went into the incubator.
- 3Note the candling dates and the lockdown date on your calendar.
- 4Stop turning and raise the humidity on lockdown day.
- 5Expect chicks around the hatch date, give or take a day.
Formula and method
Each species has a typical incubation period at 99.5 °F (37.5 °C) in a forced-air incubator: 21 days for chickens, 28 for most ducks, turkeys and peafowl, 30 for geese, 35 for Muscovy ducks, about 17 for Coturnix quail, 23 for bobwhite, 24 for pheasants and 27 for guinea fowl. The set day counts as day 0, so the hatch date is simply the set date plus that many days.
Lockdown — when you stop turning and raise the humidity — is three days before the expected hatch for every species. The two candling days are the points at which development is easy to see (about day 7 and day 14 for chickens); for the custom option they are placed at one-third and two-thirds of the incubation period.
- Set date
- Day 0 — when the eggs go into a running incubator
- Incubation days
- Average days to hatch for the species
- Lockdown
- Last 3 days: no turning, higher humidity
Worked examples
Chicken eggs set on 1 March 2026
Chicken eggs take 21 days. Counting 1 March as day 0, they are due on Sunday 22 March. Candle on day 7 (8 March) and day 14 (15 March), and go into lockdown on day 18, 19 March.
Duck eggs set on 10 April 2026
Most duck breeds hatch after 28 days, so eggs set on 10 April should hatch on 8 May. Lockdown starts on day 25, which is 5 May.
Coturnix quail set on 20 December 2026
Coturnix quail hatch in about 17 days. Eggs set on 20 December cross into the new year and are due on 6 January 2027, with lockdown on day 14 (3 January).
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for a chicken egg to hatch?+
Chicken eggs hatch in about 21 days at 99.5 °F (37.5 °C) in a forced-air incubator. Bantams can hatch a day early, and eggs kept slightly cool or stored for over a week before setting often hatch a day or two late.
What is lockdown in egg incubation?+
Lockdown is the final three days before hatch. You stop turning the eggs, raise the humidity (to about 65–70% for chickens) and keep the incubator closed so the membranes do not dry out while chicks pip and zip.
When should I candle my eggs?+
For chicken eggs candle around day 7 to remove infertile “clears” and around day 14 to remove eggs that stopped developing. Dark or speckled shells such as quail and Marans can be hard to read, so use a bright LED candler in a dark room.
What if my eggs have not hatched on the due date?+
Wait at least two to three extra days before giving up. Low incubation temperature, an inaccurate thermometer or older eggs all slow development. Candle any unhatched eggs to check for movement before discarding them.
What temperature should an incubator be?+
About 99.5 °F (37.5 °C) for a forced-air (fan) incubator, measured at egg height. Still-air incubators without a fan are usually run at 101–102 °F (38.3–38.9 °C) measured at the top of the eggs.
Do I count the day I set the eggs as day 1?+
No. The day the eggs go in is day 0 and the first full 24 hours ends on day 1. That is why chicken eggs set on a Sunday are due three weeks later on a Sunday.