Silkie guide
How to Hatch Silkie Eggs: Shipped Eggs, Incubator Setup and Hatch Day
Hatching your own silkies is magical: 21 days of waiting, then a tiny fluffball pecks its way out. Shipped eggs need a little extra care to give them their best chance. Here's what we recommend, from the moment the box lands on your porch to the day your chicks are dry and fluffy.
Before your eggs arrive
- Run your incubator for at least 24 hours before the eggs arrive, so you know it holds a steady temperature and humidity.
- Check it with a second thermometer and hygrometer. Built-in readings on many incubators are off by a degree or more, which is enough to ruin a hatch.
- Put it in a stable spot: an inside room away from windows, air vents and direct sun. In Florida, a room that stays air-conditioned day and night is ideal.
When your shipped eggs arrive
- Open the box right away and check the eggs. If any arrived cracked, take photos before you unpack further.
- Let them rest 12 to 24 hours, pointy end down, at room temperature. A clean egg carton works well. This lets the air cell inside each egg settle after the bumpy trip.
- Don't wash the eggs. Eggs have a natural coating (the bloom) that helps protect them from bacteria.
About shipped eggs: even with careful packing, shipping is rough on eggs. Some may have a loose or "detached" air cell, which you'll see as a wobbly bubble when you candle. Many still hatch. Keep those eggs pointy end down and skip turning them for the first 3 days to give the air cell a chance to settle. It's normal for shipped eggs to hatch at a lower rate than eggs from your own hens.
Incubator settings, days 1 to 17
| Setting | What to aim for |
|---|---|
| Temperature (forced-air, with a fan) | 99.5°F |
| Temperature (still-air, no fan) | About 101°F, measured at the top of the eggs |
| Humidity | 40 to 50% |
| Turning | At least 3 times a day (an odd number, so eggs don't sit on the same side every night), or use an automatic turner |
Always follow your incubator's manual if it gives different numbers. Steady temperature matters more than anything else: small swings for a few minutes are okay, but hours too hot or too cold can stop development.
Candling: seeing inside the egg
Candling means shining a bright light through the egg in a dark room. Silkie eggs are cream to lightly tinted, so they're easier to candle than dark brown eggs.
- Around day 7: look for a dark spot with spidery veins spreading out. That's a developing chick.
- Around day 14: most of the egg looks dark, and you may see movement.
- Clear eggs (light passes straight through, no veins) didn't develop. A blood ring, a red circle with no veins, means the embryo stopped early. Remove those so they don't spoil.
Work quickly and keep the eggs out of the incubator for only a few minutes. When in doubt, leave an egg in and check again a few days later.
Lockdown, days 18 to 21
On day 18, chicks move into hatching position, so it's time for "lockdown":
- Stop turning. Remove the eggs from the turner and lay them on their sides.
- Raise the humidity to 65 to 70%. This keeps the membranes soft so chicks can break free.
- Keep the lid closed until the hatch is done. Opening it lets humidity escape fast, which can trap chicks still in their shells.
Hatch day
Most silkie eggs hatch around day 21, and a day early or late is common. First you'll see a small crack or hole (the "pip"). Then the chick rests, sometimes for 12 to 24 hours, before it "zips" around the shell and pushes out.
- Be patient. Resting between pip and zip is normal. Helping too early can cause bleeding, because the chick is still absorbing blood vessels and yolk.
- Leave chicks in the incubator until they're dry and fluffy, up to 24 hours. They don't need food or water yet: they're living on the yolk they just absorbed.
- Move them to a warm brooder once dry. Our silkie chick care guide covers brooder setup, heat and feed.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Common causes |
|---|---|
| Many clear eggs | Eggs weren't fertile, or the embryos died very early, often from rough shipping or heat during transit |
| Chicks hatch early, before day 20 | Incubator running a little hot |
| Chicks hatch late, after day 22 | Incubator running a little cool |
| Chicks pip but don't zip out | Humidity too low during lockdown, or the lid was opened often |
| Chicks look wet and puffy, with mushy bellies | Humidity too high during days 1 to 17 |
Marek's vaccine for home-hatched chicks
Silkies are especially prone to Marek's disease. Chicks you hatch yourself aren't vaccinated, so if you plan to vaccinate, it needs to happen on hatch day or very soon after. Ask your vet or a poultry supply store about Marek's vaccine kits for small hatches.
Don't have an incubator? Silkie hens are famous for going broody and are wonderful mothers. A broody silkie will sit on eggs and do all the work for you, including keeping the chicks warm after they hatch.
Looking for eggs to hatch? See our silkie hatching eggs.