Broody hen vs incubator poll

[bobhoke]

It's possible the nest got contaminated and the eggs went bad. I had a Broody toss an egg out so I put it in the incubator with the rest of the eggs I was hatching, turned out it was a deformed chick. When all babies were hatched I gave them all to momma, she rejected 2 that were the same breed as the bad egg.

Wow, I've only been raising chickens since 2014 and I've never seen a hen toss an egg or abandon eggs for this matter. Several factors coincide with these situations. Eggs get dirty and contaminated due to farmer neglect and poor coop design. Chickens are better off if one provides them ample space and cover and they'll keep up their numbers on their own. Their living area must be maintained though.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Was it in the winter?

No. It was this spring right before Easter.

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

Wow thanks everyone for all your input

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

Broody is at 27! And incubators are only at 9 and both is at 12!

 

[cmom]

that’s a lot of incubators I love it! But how many chickens do you have?

Presently around 200. I am getting ready to put some eggs in the incubator.

 

[mdees88]

I use broody hens exclusively now. I did have an incubator for a couple of years, but it was just way to stressful an experience. The hens do everything for me, and I have so many of them in the spring that I can pretty much set eggs whenever I want.

Sorry to hear about your "stressful" incubator experience. I wish more people would wait and buy a used cabinet incubator instead of running out and getting a Styrofoam one.

They would be so far ahead in the long run. You can typically find used ones for around the price of 2 Styrofoam incubators (with turners). They hold 5 times as many eggs, they last decades, and they maintain temp and humidity very well . I haven't touched or opened my incubator in 2 weeks and it is dialed in for these 98 pheasant eggs....

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

View attachment 1405886 View attachment 1405887
Presently around 200. I am getting ready to put some eggs in the incubator.

Cool maybe sometime we can talk about incubators and funny chicken story’s it’s just an idea feel free to say no

 

[Chicken-lovebirdchihuahua]

Sorry to hear about your "stressful" incubator experience. I wish more people would wait and buy a used cabinet incubator instead of running out and getting a Styrofoam one.

They would be so far ahead in the long run. You can typically find used ones for around the price of 2 Styrofoam incubators. They hold 5 times as many eggs, they last decades, and they maintain temp and humidity very well . I haven't touched or opened my incubator in 2 weeks and it is dialed in for these 98 pheasant eggs....
View attachment 1405948

Really that’s so cool

 

[song of joy]

Broody pros
You don’t have to brood chicks yourself.
Don’t have to worry about lockdown madness.

Broody cons
She can abandon the nest or change nests.
Eggs can get cracked or busted.
Bad mom.
Other hens can add to the nest.
Could kill the babies as they hatch.

Another broody pro: The hen integrates the chicks into the flock for you. This is a huge advantage to using a broody.

Almost all of the broody cons can be eliminated by isolating the broody hen from the rest of the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week or so after the hatch (until the chicks are about 1 week old).

 

[cmom]

Another broody pro: The hen integrates the chicks into the flock for you. This is a huge advantage to using a broody.

Almost all of the broody cons can be eliminated by isolating the broody hen from the rest of the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week or so after the hatch (until the chicks are about 1 week old).

I have a couple of grow-out coops for the youngsters. Whenever you introduce them to other flocks they will determine their pecking order.