Editorial policy

HatchMath is a research and tools site for backyard chicken keepers, not a homestead blog. This page describes exactly how content is sourced and verified so readers can decide for themselves how much weight to put on any given claim.

Research framing

The framing on every page is sourced research: “a conservative beginner-safe rule is…”, “most extension publications agree on…”, “where references diverge is…”. When sources conflict, we lean toward the conservative answer that fails safest for a beginner's first batch. That sometimes means our recommendations are stricter than what an experienced keeper would do — that's intentional for a beginner audience.

Sources we cite (tiered)

• Tier 1 — numerical anchors: USDA backyard-flock fact sheets, county and state Cooperative Extension Service publications (Mississippi State, UMaine, Penn State, UC ANR, etc.), and university poultry-program publications (Cornell, UMass). These are the primary anchors for floor-space, feed- intake, brooder-temperature, and biosecurity figures.
• Tier 2 — manufacturer specs:Purina Mills and Nutrena (feed intake by life stage), Brinsea and Premier 1 Supplies (brooder + incubator equipment specs). Used as the primary source when extension publications don't carry specific equipment guidance.
• NCAT context (not numerical anchors): ATTRA's Pastured Poultry: Egg Production — pasture rotation, roost length, nest-box ratios, night-housing context. Explicitly NOT cited as the source for the indoor 4-sq-ft baseline or the 1:10 ventilation ratio; those are HatchMath methodology, labeled as such on the calculator and on the methodology page.
• HatchMath methodology rules(labeled on every surface that uses them): the 1:10 vent ratio, climate multipliers for cold/hot/humid, run-space range, heavy-breed and bantam adjustments, cold-weather feed bumps, brooder wattage brackets. These are calibrated against the Tier 1 + Tier 2 sources but aren't directly extension-published as those exact figures, so we name ourselves rather than borrow extension authority.

What we don't do

• No fabricated brand opinions. We don't say “X heat lamp is better than Y” or “Z brooder plate is the top pick” without a cited source or first-party teardown to back it up.
• No “best chicken coop 2026”-style listicles. Strong-opinion ranking content isn't shipped unless evidence-backed.
• No fake personal anecdotes. No “my Australorps were laying through their first molt…” copy.
• No live-bird, hatching-egg, or chick-shipment affiliate programs. The equipment side (coop hardware, brooder gear, feeders, waterers) is monetized; live animals are not.
• No interstitial ads, no popunders, no pre-content email popups.
• No safety-critical content fronted with affiliate framing. Brooder heat, ventilation, and biosecurity surfaces stay clean of ads and affiliate links — the editorial trust bar there is highest.

Updates and corrections

Pages are dated; check the “Updated” line in the footer of each guide. Material corrections are noted inline (“Updated 2026-XX-XX: previously stated X; revised after finding Y”). If you spot something wrong, email admin@hatchmath.com.

Affiliate relationships

Phase 1 of the site ships with zero affiliate links. Once equipment buying guides ship in phase 2, contextual affiliate references to Chewy and Amazon may appear inside sourced editorial — never as the primary framing of a page, never as “best of” listicles. See disclosures for the current state.