Broody raised vs incubated - I am very confused

[SweetieChicken234]

So from what I gather the chicks raised by a broody are usually not supposed to be as friendly as incubator raised chicks. My chicks are almost 8 weeks old. Mother hen is done raising them. She was finished about 7 weeks old. She's back to laying eggs. The chicks are wonderful and friendly. They fly up and sit on me. They act the same as the incubator chicks I have that are 3 weeks older. Almost the whole time mother hen was raising her chicks she would attack me. She has bit me everytime I did feed and water. If I pushed her back sometimes she would scratch me. She's a nice hen but turned crazy with chicks. So the chicks saw how she treated me and somehow turned nice? How is that possible? I thought they were going to be just the same as she treated me.

So now I have 4 cockerels out of 6 chicks that I'd rather rehome than eat. They are totally sweet babies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You are dealing with living animals. When it comes to behaviors you don't get guarantees. Each is an individual, each "flock" or group have their own dynamics. Some people on this forum would have you believe that every chicken on our planet is identical. I don't find that to be true, even the ones of the same breed.

We can tell you what happened to us one time. We can tell you what often or sometimes happens to us. That can be good information as to what you might possibly see. But none of us can accurately tell you what will happen with your specific chickens.

It sounds like they turned out the way you'd want them to. Excellent! Enjoy!

 

[SweetieChicken234]

You are dealing with living animals. When it comes to behaviors you don't get guarantees. Each is an individual, each "flock" or group have their own dynamics. Some people on this forum would have you believe that every chicken on our planet is identical. I don't find that to be true, even the ones of the same breed.

We can tell you what happened to us one time. We can tell you what often or sometimes happens to us. That can be good information as to what you might possibly see. But none of us can accurately tell you what will happen with your specific chickens.

It sounds like they turned out the way you'd want them to. Excellent! Enjoy!

This is a good answer because truly I did believe they would act towards me as the mother has. She attacked me every possible chance. Why they are so sweet to me I can't even imagine. They are all individual and must realize I was only bringing food for them and clean water.

This is a win-win situation. Broody raised them and I got sweet incubator personality.

 

[Altairsky]

My incubated chicks are the sweetest, the broody chicks are feral af and almost impossible to catch, they will became dinner with no tear cried. Every case is different.

 

[McChooky]

My incubated chicks are the sweetest, the broody chicks are feral af and almost impossible to catch, they will became dinner with no tear cried. Every case is different.

A momma hen is 100% capable to teaching her chicks not to trust predators (that includes us) All of my dads chickens were feral and impossible to catch.The only time they approached us was for food.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

My incubated chicks are the sweetest, the broody chicks are feral af and almost impossible to catch, they will became dinner with no tear cried. Every case is different.

This is exactly what I'm running into now. I thought the cockerels would be easy dinner no sadness because they would be feral. I don't want to eat nice boys that sit on me and act like they came from the incubator. It way hard to find good homes for boys too.

 

[McChooky]

Learning as much as possible about all the different breeds allows you to pick breeds that are better suited for your lifestyle.I chose breeds that are easier to sex when hatched and hens that don't go broody often. My rooster will be 2 yrs old next spring and they still haven't hatched any chicks.I've also got an extra coop for cockerels if they hatch chicks so I can separate them.Because I get attached to animals easily I found this way works best for me

 

[Carters Chick House]

This is a good answer because truly I did believe they would act towards me as the mother has. She attacked me every possible chance. Why they are so sweet to me I can't even imagine. They are all individual and must realize I was only bringing food for them and clean water.

This is a win-win situation. Broody raised them and I got sweet incubator personality.

I agree. Every situation is different. So glad you are enjoying them.