How long do eggs take to hatch?

Chicken eggs take 21 days. Turkey and most duck eggs take 28, geese about 33, coturnix quail 17 and bobwhite quail 23. Muscovy ducks are the notable exception at about 35 days, much longer than other ducks. Those are the standard figures from agricultural extension services, and actual timing varies a little with how the eggs were collected and stored and with incubation conditions.

What is lockdown in egg incubation?

Lockdown is the last stretch before hatching, when you stop turning the eggs, raise the humidity and leave the incubator closed so the chicks can position themselves and break out. It is conventionally three days before the hatch date, which is why it falls on day 18 for chickens, day 25 for turkeys and most ducks, and around day 32 for Muscovy. The three day rule holds across species because it tracks the hatch date rather than the calendar.

When should I candle eggs?

Around a week in is the usual first check, when fertile eggs show visible blood vessels and a developing embryo and clear eggs can be removed before they spoil. Many people candle again just before lockdown. Candling is quick but it does cool the eggs, so it is done briefly and not repeated more than it needs to be.

Egg Incubation Calculator NZ

Set the date the eggs went into the incubator, pick the bird, and this gives you the hatch date along with the two other dates that actually need to be in the diary: when to candle, and when to stop turning and go into lockdown. Incubation periods differ more between birds than people expect. Chickens take 21 days, turkeys and most ducks 28, geese about 33, coturnix quail 17 and bobwhite quail 23. The one that catches people out is the Muscovy duck at about 35 days, which is a full week longer than every other duck, so a Muscovy clutch set alongside Pekin eggs will still be sitting there long after the others have hatched and been moved to the brooder. Lockdown is calculated as three days before hatching rather than as a fixed calendar day, which is why it lands on day 18 for a chicken, day 25 for a duck and around day 32 for a Muscovy: it is the same rule each time, tracking the hatch rather than the start. These are standard figures and real hatches vary a little with how the eggs were collected and stored and with the conditions in the incubator.

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Date the eggs went in

Bird

Or set the days yourself

22 August 2026

expected hatch date

Candle from8 August 2026

Lockdown, stop turning19 August 2026

Incubation21 days

Standard figures. Real hatches vary a little with how the eggs were collected and stored and with the temperature and humidity in the incubator.

The days for chicken, turkey, duck, goose and both quail come from the Mississippi State University Extension incubation table. Muscovy at about 35 days is not in that table and is the widely reported figure from general poultry references, so it is flagged rather than presented as coming from the same source.

How it works

The hatch date is the incubation period added to the day the eggs were set. Lockdown is three days before that hatch date, which is the conventional rule and the reason it falls on different calendar days for different birds while being the same rule each time. The candling date is a week after setting, which is the usual first check. Picking a bird fills in the days for you, and the days field stays editable, so a breed you know runs slightly long can be entered directly.

What lockdown is for

In the last three days the chick moves into hatching position and breaks into the air cell, and turning the egg now works against it. So the turner comes out or the hand turning stops, the humidity goes up to keep the membrane from drying and gripping the chick, and the lid stays shut. Opening the incubator during lockdown drops the humidity quickly, and a chick that is part way out when that happens can get shrink wrapped by a membrane drying around it. The three days is the whole point of marking the date rather than just the hatch.

Worked example

Chicken eggs set on 1 August 2026 are due to hatch on 22 August 2026. Candling from 8 August will show which eggs are developing and which are clear and can come out. Lockdown starts on 19 August, three days before the hatch, and from then the incubator stays closed. The same eggs set on the same day, if they were Muscovy, would not be due until 5 September, with lockdown on 2 September, so the two clutches cannot share an incubator through lockdown without one of them being disturbed at the wrong moment.

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Data sources: incubation periods for chicken, turkey, duck, goose and quail come from Mississippi State University Extension. Muscovy duck is flagged separately above as not being from that table. Incubation period is biology rather than jurisdiction, so it does not differ in New Zealand.