Incubation and gestation guide for livestock
Looking for a quick guide to help you incubate eggs or calculate gestation periods for your livestock? We built this for people who have multi-species livestock and need to quickly reference animals across the board. Better yet, with FarmKeep's breeding management features, you can use the built in automatic incubation and gestation calculators to set and forget your breeding tracking.
🥚 Poultry Incubation Guide
| Poultry Type |
Incubation
Days |
Temperature
°F / °C |
Humidity Set (%) |
Humidity Hatch (%) |
Stop Turning
(Day) |
| Chicken |
21 |
99.5 / 37.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
18 |
| Turkey |
28 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
25 |
| Muscovy Duck |
28–35 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
25–31 |
| Goose |
28–34 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
25 |
| Guinea Fowl |
26–28 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
25 |
| Pheasant |
23–28 |
99.5 |
45–50 |
55–65 |
21 |
| Bobwhite Quail |
22–24 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
20 |
| Coturnix Quail |
16–18 |
99.5 |
45–55 |
55–65 |
14 |
| Chukar Partridge |
23–24 |
99.5 |
45–50 |
55–65 |
20 |
| Ostrich |
42 |
97–98 / 36.1–36.6 |
45 |
25 |
40 |
| Emu |
50–56 |
95.5–96.5 / 35.3–35.8 |
45 |
25 |
48 |
You can use FarmKeep's egg incubation calculator to calculate lockdown dates and hatch dates.
Notes:
- General poultry temp is ~99.5 °F (37.5 °C); ostrich and emu differ.
- Turn eggs 18–30 times daily; stop on lockdown day which is a few days before hatch time.
- Maintain humidity per species, increase in final days for hatch .
🐄 Mammal Livestock Gestation & Estrus Guide
| Species |
Gestation
(Days) |
Estrous Cycle |
Estrus
Duration |
| Cattle |
283 (approx. 9 mo) |
18–24 days (avg 21) |
~18 hours |
| Goat |
145–150 (approx. 5 mo) |
~21 days (seasonal) |
24–48 hours |
| Sheep |
147–150 (approx. 5 mo) |
~17 days (seasonal) |
~30 hours |
| Pig |
112–120 (approx. 3.8 mo) |
~21 days |
40–60 hours |
| Horse |
320–340 (approx. 11 mo) |
~21 days (seasonal) |
5–7 days |
| Donkey |
~365 (approx. 12 mo) |
Return heat ~9–10 days post-foaling |
- |
| Llama/Alpaca |
330–345 (~11.5 mo) |
Induced ovulators |
- |
| Rabbit |
~31 days |
Induced ovulator |
- |
You can use FarmKeep's livestock gestation calculator to calculate lockdown dates and hatch dates.
Best Practices
Poultry: Use species-specific incubation settings as above.
Mammals: Monitor estrus and record breeding dates to ensure on-time births.
Track all data with an easy to use tool like FarmKeep for reminders and accuracy.
