Day 1 – 20 (Incubator) the temperature should be 99.4 F and the humidity should be 83-84 F wet bulb (53% relative humidity).
Day 21 – 25 (Hatcher) the temperature should be 98 F and the humidity should be 83-84 F wet bulb (53% relative humidity).
NOTES:
- When chicks actively begin to hatch (approximately 23½ -24 days) increase humidity to 91 F wet bulb (75-76% relative humidity).
- “Actively hatching” is when the majority of the eggs are pipped and a few chicks may have already hatched but are still wet.
- Increasing humidity prevents chicks from sticking to the egg shell membrane.
- Temperature and the turning of the eggs are the two most important factors in the hatching of pheasant chicks.
- Extremes in temperature (high or low) and not turning the eggs for periods of over twenty-four hours will severely reduce hatchability.
- Humidity has much less disastrous effects, but can become a factor when extremes occur over long periods of time (e.g. 7 plus days at humidity plus or minus 10%)
MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. prides itself on its impeccable customer service. Any questions that you may have are important and we will do our best to answer them. Below are a few commonly asked questions about hatching pheasant eggs. Each area of the rearing process has its own individual page to better organize and facilitate your search and our response.