Brooder Hen or Incubator????

[aurorarose25]

Which one is the best as in production of quantity and quality of chicks? I have heard it said several ways and I am not sure if I want to spend a lot of money on building an incubator

Any Ideas

 

[Mom2Cool]

I don't know the answer to the quaantity vs quality answer but my hen is a lot cuter with the chicks & I think she was young & yet still more reliable... I've got 6 chicks in the kitchen that are 2 wks. old & i could probably let them go out for a few hours every day now except I wouldn't put them out on rainy days etc. But I feel a little sorry for them because the hen has had her chicks out since they were just a day & 1/2 old & when they need warmth or protection she's just there like a portable brooder.... Because it was her first time (& mine) I only put her on 3 or 4 eggs & now she's got 3 chicks (the last one she'd left & I put under another hen that's broody) anyway if I'd had know she was as good at this as she is I would have given her more...

 

[IggiMom]

I am hoping to have broodies next year. I have one right now who I hope will hatch out my Serama babies.

A good broody who sits on her eggs and stays there will always have her humdity right and her temperature right.

She is worth her weight in eggs.

Catherine

 

[pixie74943]

Hen.

Think of how much cheaper it is for starters.

And it was said in one of the incubator threads, its natural for them to hatch into a dark warm safe place under mummy hen, not into a big bright incubator with wire under their feet.

What would you rather, to be raised with your parents, or the be stuck in a both where you had warmth and shelter but no mother. Think Maslow's self-affirmation triangle.

That being said though, Mama hen can only do so much, shes not a machine, and most importantly, she isn't going to let you anywhere near her babies unless she wants you there. Bonding could be ... problematic.

 

[kycowgirlchick]

I have done both. The chicks under the hen seem to have grown much faster.