Egg Incubation Date
Free Egg Incubation Date calculator with clear step-by-step results.
About Egg Incubation Date
Incubation length is species-specific, and the two dates that matter alongside the hatch date are the first candling - around day seven, when fertility becomes visible - and lockdown three days before hatch, when turning stops and humidity is raised so chicks can position and pip.
Formulas
Hatch date
Hatch = set date + species incubation days
Lockdown
Lockdown = hatch date - 3 days
Worked example
With the default values below, Egg Incubation Date returns Expected hatch date of 2026-03-22. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Date eggs were set
- 2026-03-01
- Speciesone of Chicken (21 days), Duck (28 days), Turkey (28 days), Goose (30 days), Quail (17 days), Muscovy duck (35 days)
- Chicken (21 days)
Results
- Expected hatch date
- 2026-03-22
- Stop turning and raise humidity
- 2026-03-19
- First candling check
- 2026-03-08
- Incubation period
- 21 days
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Hatch date
- 3Lockdown
- 4Expected hatch date= 2026-03-22
- 5Stop turning and raise humidity= 2026-03-19
- 6First candling check= 2026-03-08
- 7Incubation period= 21 days
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to whole numbers, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why stop turning three days early?
The embryo needs to orient itself toward the air cell to internally pip. Turning after that point can disorient it and cause a failure to hatch.
What if nothing hatches on the due date?
Give it 48 hours. Cool running incubators delay hatching by a day or more, and opening the incubator during lockdown can be fatal to chicks mid-hatch.