Chicken Hatch Date Calculator
Enter the date you set your eggs in the incubator to get your candling, lockdown, and hatch dates.
Hatch dateEnter the date you set the eggs
Incubation timeline
Day 7: candle · Day 14: candle again · Day 18: lockdown (stop turning, raise humidity) · Day 21: hatch.
Egg hatching calendar: what happens on each day
This egg hatching calculator counts forward from the day you set the eggs, but knowing what should be happening inside the shell tells you whether a hatch is on track.
- Days 1–3 — the heart starts beating and the first blood vessels form. Nothing is visible when candling yet.
- Day 7 — first candling. A developing egg shows a dark spot with a spiderweb of vessels spreading out from it. Clear eggs were never fertile; pull them.
- Days 8–13 — feathers, beak, and claws form. The embryo fills more of the shell each day.
- Day 14 — second candling. You should see a large dark mass with a clear air cell at the fat end. A blood ring means the embryo quit; remove it.
- Days 15–17 — the chick turns to point its beak toward the air cell, ready to breathe.
- Day 18 — lockdown. Stop turning, raise humidity to 65–70%, and stop opening the lid. Turning after this point can stop the chick positioning correctly.
- Days 19–20 — the chick breaks into the air cell (internal pip) and you may hear peeping. External pipping — the first crack in the shell — usually starts now.
- Day 21 — hatch. Zipping and hatching takes 12–24 hours from the first external pip. Do not help; leave chicks in the incubator to dry and fluff.
Temperature drives the timing more than anything else: a slightly cool incubator delays the hatch by a day or two, a slightly warm one brings it early. A hatch spread over days 20–22 is completely normal. For the full walkthrough, read the day-by-day chicken egg incubation guide.
This page assumes chicken eggs and their 21-day cycle. Hatching duck, quail, turkey, or goose eggs? Their incubation periods run from 17 to 30 days — use the multi-species egg incubation calculator instead. Not sure your eggs are even fertile? You need a rooster in the flock:here is why.
How we calculate it
Candle = set date + 7 days. Lockdown = set date + 18 days. Hatch = set date + 21 days.
Based on:
- Chicken eggs hatch in 21 days; candle at 7, 14, and 18 days (Mississippi State Extension)
- Stop turning and raise humidity for the final 3 days (lockdown) (Penn State Extension)
- Embryo development and candling stages, day by day (Mississippi State Extension)
Figures are typical guidelines for planning. Your birds, breed, climate, and feed will vary.
Frequently asked questions
How long do chicken eggs take to hatch?
Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch under proper incubation (about 99.5°F / 37.5°C with correct humidity). Some hatch a day early or late.
When should I candle eggs?
Candle around day 7 to check for veining and development, and again around day 14. Remove any clear or non-developing eggs.
What is lockdown in incubation?
Lockdown is day 18, when you stop turning the eggs, raise humidity, and leave the incubator closed until they hatch on day 21.