Blog
Breeding, hatching, and showing — with an 'answer in 30 seconds' box on every post.
- Broody Hen vs Incubator: The Real Numbers Behind Each MethodA broody hen manages temperature, humidity, turning, and brooding for free — but you can't control timing or numbers. An incubator gives you full control and scale, but you run everything. Here's the honest math on cost, control, and hatch success.
- The Olive Egger Craze, ExplainedOlive Eggers aren't a breed — they're a blue-egg × dark-brown-egg hybrid. Here's what's driving the craze, the genetics in plain English, why they don't breed true, and what sexed chicks actually cost.
- Serama: The World's Smallest Show ChickenThe Serama is the world's smallest chicken, judged on its upright 'toy soldier' posture under its own club (the Serama Council of North America), not the APA Standard. Size classes, tabletop judging, and the honest breeding challenges — tiny eggs, a lethal creeper gene, and variable hatch rates.
- What a Hatching Egg Listing Should IncludeA strong hatching-egg listing states the breed and parentage, your NPIP status and number, how eggs are packed and shipped, collection dates, a realistic shipped-hatch expectation (~50%), and clear photos. Here's exactly what to put in each field and why.
- Hatching Business Math: Can You Actually Profit?A clear-eyed look at whether hatching and selling chicks or eggs can turn a profit. Work through the cost side, the revenue side, and hatch-rate reality with an illustrative example framework — your numbers will vary.
- The Ohio National Poultry Show: A First-Timer's GuideThe Ohio National is the largest poultry show in the US, typically held in November near Columbus, OH, with thousands of birds and a huge junior show. Here's how first-timers can confirm dates, meet health requirements, and prepare their birds.
- Best Exhibition Breeds for Beginners (2027)The most forgiving show chickens for a first-timer: hardy, widely available, calm birds like the Wyandotte, Orpington, Cochin, Silkie, Old English Game Bantam, and Rhode Island Red — plus the extreme, low-fertility breeds to skip at first.
- The 2027 Incubator Buying Guide: How to Pick the Right OneHow to choose an incubator for the 2027 hatching season: forced-air vs still-air, auto-turners, digital controls, and capacity — plus beginner, modular, and cabinet picks and why calibration matters on all of them.
- Why Are Ayam Cemani So Expensive? The Economics of the All-Black ChickenAyam Cemani command premium prices because of fibromelanosis, scarce breeding stock, and hype. Reported hatching-egg prices have run roughly $49–140 a dozen — but prices are volatile, scams are common, and they lay cream eggs, not black ones.
- Why Shipped Hatching Eggs Hatch at 50 PercentA ~50% hatch (often 25–50%) is normal for shipped hatching eggs — transit jostles and detaches the air cells no matter how good your incubator is. Why it happens, how to give shipped eggs their best shot, and how to judge your own result — from university extension sources.