Broody vs Incubator

[donrae]

Yeah as McGobs said, the mother will be out teaching her chick how to be a chicken. I have heard many stories of a broody chicken sitting on her eggs and hatching the first one, only for the rest to be just a few hours away from hatching but dying because the mother left them to care for the first. Sad really.

Also you can hatch many more eggs and at a time to suit you, whereas with a chicken you rely on the chicken and can only fit a small amount under her in comparison.

Incubators eliminate this problem but it really is better to have nature do the work for you, for the simple reason that it is natural. I fear that the longer people use incubators for, the more chance there is of chickens losing their natural instinct to brood all together, just like the quail.

If I had a hen that consistently did this, I sure wouldn't be using her for a broody. Once, maybe, but my hens stay until most of the eggs are hatched. It wouldn't be much of a survival mechanism if a hen only hatched one chick a brood, would it?

 

[GardenDave]

lol I said many stories as in from many different people experiencing the same issue, not the same hen.