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# Set a clutch of eggs and follow incubation

Choose **Set eggs** to start a clutch, the batch of eggs you incubate together. Creatures then counts the days, plans your candling and lockdown checks for the species, and shows when the eggs should hatch.

## Before you start

**Set eggs** shows up once you keep egg layers on Creatures: a hen, a flock, or hatching eggs saved in Genetics. If you don't see it, add your birds first. A flock tracked by head count works fine, so you don't need a profile for every hen. See [Track animals without individual profiles](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/track-animals-without-individual-profiles-nbado5/).

Just added a hen? If she's your first animal, the card after you save her offers **Set a clutch**. Home may also show **Set [name]'s first clutch** for her first week. Both open **Set eggs** with her picked.

Start a clutch from any of these places:

- **Dashboard**, then **Breeding** under **Animals & Groups**, in the **Egg clutches** panel.
- A hen's **Breeding** tab, or **Set eggs from this group** at the top of a flock's page.
- A batch of hatching eggs in Genetics.
- On a phone, **Create** in the bottom bar.

![Egg clutches panel with Collect eggs, Set eggs and a Day 8 clutch card](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/bbe/3f9/600/13b7b.png?width=780)

## Set the eggs

1. Under **Which eggs?**, choose **This hen or female**, **A flock**, **Existing stock or bought eggs** or **Not sure**.
2. Pick the bird or flock. For stock, choose **Already in my Genetics** or **Bought or given elsewhere** under **Where did you get them?**, then pick **Your eggs**. Creatures uses your oldest eggs first unless you open **Choose collections**.
3. Enter **Eggs to set** and the **Set date** (today or earlier).
4. Check the **Species**. It fills in from the source. **Breed** is optional.
5. For chickens, pick a **Day-count convention**: **Day 0 when set · days elapsed**, or **Set before noon is Day 1**.
6. Open **More details** for extras such as **Father, if known**, **Incubation method** (**In an incubator** or **Under a broody hen**) and the incubator under **Where? (optional)**.
7. Select the button with your count, such as **Set 12 eggs**.

![Set eggs with A flock and Glen Lyon Silkie flock chosen, 12 eggs and today's date](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/8af/1e4/528/d3b75.png?width=780)

If you manage a farm on Creatures, **Keep this clutch for** sets who owns it. Setting eggs from several batches in Genetics? Use **Add another egg source** (up to 20).

Setting eggs from one hen? **More details** also has **Show the set date and egg count on her public breeding history**. It starts on. Turn it off to keep those private. The clutch, your notes and the chicks stay private either way.

## Follow the clutch

The private clutch page shows the day count, such as **Day 8 of 21**, the expected hatch dates and your next check.

Under **Upcoming**, each check has its dates, a status and a button: **Due now**, **Scheduled**, or **Overdue · record it or skip it** if you missed it. Chickens get a **First candling** on days 7 to 10, a **Second candling** and **Lockdown (stop turning)** on day 18, and an **Expected hatch** window. Other species follow their own schedule. Ready checks also appear on your [Today page](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/your-today-page-whats-due-and-how-to-check-it-off-cff1ap/).

![Upcoming checks for a Day 8 clutch, with First candling due now and Candle the eggs](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/b63/dea/efc/b67b5.png?width=780)

**Candling** means shining a light through each egg to see if a chick is growing. **Lockdown** is the last few days before hatch: you stop turning the eggs, raise the humidity and keep the lid closed.

## Record a candling check

1. Select **Candle the eggs**.
2. Leave **This check** on **Record what I observed**.
3. Enter **Eggs looked at**, then split them into **Developing**, **Clear**, **Early dead** and **Uncertain**. The four should add up to the eggs you looked at.
4. Enter **Eggs pulled out**, if any. Turn on **I checked that the pulled clear eggs were infertile** only if you confirmed it.
5. Select **Save candling**.

![Candling counts with 11 developing and 1 clear of 12 eggs](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/1d3/ef0/624/698db.png?width=780)

Candling doesn't change your egg totals. Count any eggs you pulled when you [record the hatch](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/record-a-hatch-and-add-your-chicks-aaa98t/). Can't candle today? Choose **Skip this check**, or **Reschedule this check** and pick a **New date**.

## Lockdown, pips and notes

The **⋯** button (**More clutch actions**) next to the main button opens: **Record hatch**, **Candle**, **Lockdown**, **First pip**, **Add note**, **Edit** and **Cancel set**. **Lockdown** records **Turning stopped**, **Humidity adjusted for this species** and **Lid closed**. **Add note** takes an optional **Temperature °C** and **Humidity %**. A pip is the first hole a chick breaks in its shell.

![More clutch actions menu open with Candle, Lockdown, First pip and Add note](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/5e6/e1e/474/a2528.png?width=780)

Two clutches in one incubator with different lockdown days? The page shows **Shared incubator check**. Creatures doesn't move either schedule, so check both clutches.

## If something looks wrong

- **Wrong count or date:** choose **Edit** while the eggs are still incubating.
- **Eggs set by mistake:** choose **Cancel set** before you save any hatch counts. Eggs taken from your stock go back to it.
- **No dates shown:** some species have no forecast yet. The clutch still counts the days, and you can enter **Expected incubation days** yourself.

### Related information

- [Record a hatch and add your chicks](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/record-a-hatch-and-add-your-chicks-aaa98t/)
- [Collect eggs from your flock](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/collect-eggs-from-your-flock-vhni3g/)
- [Share a clutch: public page, interest list and hatch card](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/share-a-clutch-public-page-interest-list-and-hatch-card-iswhx5/)
- [The breeding dashboard](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/the-breeding-dashboard-1hgc4gz/)