for our children to get some hands on experience, we started with an incubator and followed the development day by day with an educational video. the kids loved being able to watch the chicks hatch and to hold them right away and keeping them indoors for weeks so they could hold them every day. it has become clear to me that this preference is about the kids and our experience and not what is best for the chicks, though I have nothing against it, I just prefer a broody hen now that the kids have had their fill of that kind of experience. as the kids have aged we've shifted to getting the chicks out into the coop on day one if we incubate or buy chicks. they seem to do so much better with a larger area to run around as long as they have heat, like a mother heating pad or wooley hen. I've found this to be true even in early spring when the temps are still a bit cold, chicks are very good at regulating their temperature if given a good warm spot to go to when needed. I've come to really not like heat lamps, so I will be using a mother heating pad and expirementing with a wooley hen from here out as much as possible if I don't have a broody hen.
my strongest preference is for a broody hen because it is the best for the developing chick, from what I've experienced. starting out with an incubator can really make you appreciate a broody hen! She turns the eggs plenty, maybe even more than we an automated system, with exacting precision she regulates her temperature with the simple venting of heat by raising her quills or, with a slight adjustment of her feathers can conserve heat. this is also true of humidity. a reliable broody hens is a master at balancing all the variables for a very good hatch and very healthy chicks as long as her basic needs are met. once the chicks hatch, there is nothing quite like watching her teach her babies how to forrage, what to eat, what to look out for. a good broody hen has a wide vocabulary for communicating many things about the trials and tribulations of chick life. I watched our broody hen, with a specific subtle cluck communicate to her chicks that there was danger in the sky above, and all the hens took cover. I looked up and way up within the stratosphere was the faint outline of a jet plane. it was wild to see the chicks come running for the protection of her wings. Occasionally I throw worms in for the chicks and the mother takes them and makes a specific sound, seemingly calling to her chicks that something extra delectable had arrived. She takes the worm from me and instead of gobbling it down, she throws it on the ground and pecks at it and continues to alert the chicks as she breaks it up into pieces for them. I don't remember where I read it but I have read that the vocabulary of chicks raised by broody hens is larger than those raised in a brooder and I can definitely see how that would be the case.
So I like both broody hens and incubators for different reasons. I think of the incubation and indoor brooding as a special experience for those times when we want hands on, up close, educational and fun experiences. I see the broody hen as the better long term option, year on year, at least when "the stars align" and the timing works out for having fertile eggs and a willing hen.
my strongest preference is for a broody hen because it is the best for the developing chick, from what I've experienced. starting out with an incubator can really make you appreciate a broody hen! She turns the eggs plenty, maybe even more than we an automated system, with exacting precision she regulates her temperature with the simple venting of heat by raising her quills or, with a slight adjustment of her feathers can conserve heat. this is also true of humidity. a reliable broody hens is a master at balancing all the variables for a very good hatch and very healthy chicks as long as her basic needs are met. once the chicks hatch, there is nothing quite like watching her teach her babies how to forrage, what to eat, what to look out for. a good broody hen has a wide vocabulary for communicating many things about the trials and tribulations of chick life. I watched our broody hen, with a specific subtle cluck communicate to her chicks that there was danger in the sky above, and all the hens took cover. I looked up and way up within the stratosphere was the faint outline of a jet plane. it was wild to see the chicks come running for the protection of her wings. Occasionally I throw worms in for the chicks and the mother takes them and makes a specific sound, seemingly calling to her chicks that something extra delectable had arrived. She takes the worm from me and instead of gobbling it down, she throws it on the ground and pecks at it and continues to alert the chicks as she breaks it up into pieces for them. I don't remember where I read it but I have read that the vocabulary of chicks raised by broody hens is larger than those raised in a brooder and I can definitely see how that would be the case.
So I like both broody hens and incubators for different reasons. I think of the incubation and indoor brooding as a special experience for those times when we want hands on, up close, educational and fun experiences. I see the broody hen as the better long term option, year on year, at least when "the stars align" and the timing works out for having fertile eggs and a willing hen.
, and some petting and holding, they quickly became lapdogs.
