First time hatching eggs.. advice greatly appreciated

[Amerikaner]

So... my hens are laying eggs as normal, we usually get the eggs for consumption each day, we have 3 broody hens and 1 rooster.
my question is, if i wanted to hatch some eggs, would it be fine just to mark the eggs and leave it with the hen or do i really really need an incubator, i am asking because if i can leave the eggs with the hen , id save myself some money...right? also i hear incubators are sometimes not accurate and you have to babysit them sometimes and have right temperature and humidity and so forth, and i am not a big chickens farmer trying to sell eggs or sell chickens.
My other question is if i where to get fertile eggs from lets say a farmer down the road of a type of chickens i really like...can i just slip those bad boys with the broody hens ?? and if those eggs hatch , would the hen realize its not her babies and cast them out or will it treat it like its one of its own??

 

[WILIFORD]

If you have a broody hen, just leave them with her. She will do all the work. I use my incubator when I want to hatch 30-40 eggs at a time. But for just a few egg, up to about 10 or 12, I will use a broody hen it's easier and your right, cheaper.

 

[citymeetscountry]

You can leave them with your broody hen. Marking is a good idea. Make sure you have a safe space for your broody (particularly when the babies hatch). Yes you should also be able to put eggs you want under her and she’ll likely accept them (but you want to make sure they hatch around the same time). Typically 21 days to hatch. Also you may want to grab an incubator for backup in case your broody decides to quit/abandon the nest.

 

[Ridgerunner]

would it be fine just to mark the eggs and leave it with the hen or do i really really need an incubator

Broody hens have been hatching eggs for thousands of years, long before incubators were invented. As far as I know the first incubators were developed by the ancient Egyptians and ancient Chinese, probably independently. Yep, chickens were hatching their own even before that.

if i where to get fertile eggs from lets say a farmer down the road of a type of chickens i really like...can i just slip those bad boys with the broody hens ?? and if those eggs hatch , would the hen realize its not her babies and cast them out or will it treat it like its one of its own??

A broody hen will try to hatch her own eggs, any other hen's eggs, turkey or pheasant eggs, door knobs, rocks if they are the right shape, or if nothing else, she will use her imagination to create something. If a broody does hatch a turkey or duck, she will raise it. It doesn't have to be a chicken chick. A mature rooster should consider any chick that hatches to be his, no matter color or anything else. Sometimes the rooster helps Mama take care of them but usually he just leaves them alone.

There are many variations but you basically have two options. You can let the hen hatch with the flock or you can isolate her while she incubates and hatches. People do it both ways. How much room do you have in feet or meters in the coop and in the run? Photos of your facilities could help. A broody hen needs some room to work and after she weans them the chicks need extra room to make their way with the flock until they mature.

One way is to let her hatch with the flock. Gather all the eggs you want her to incubate and mark them, I use a black Sharpie. Start them all at the same time whether you isolate her or not. You do not want a staggered hatch where some are really earlier than others. Check under the broody every day after the others have laid and remove any that don't belong. As long as you remove them every day they are still good to use.

The other way is to isolate the hen from the flock. You need a place where you have room for a nest, food, and water and a little room for her to go poop. She should instinctively know to not poop in her nest but that doesn't follow with food or water so you need access to clean. It needs to be predator safe. Move the hen into this new nest with fake or sacrificial eggs a couple of days before you give her the real eggs to make sure she has accepted the move.

Some people let multiple broody hens share a nest and hatch together to raise the chicks together or have each broody in her own nest. It can work out fine. I don't do that. I had two hens fight over a nest of eggs as the chicks first started to hatch, they destroyed half the eggs. Some people have the broodies fight over the chicks or even kill the chicks with the other hen. Not everybody has these problems but they can and do sometimes happen. In your situation I'd decide which hen is going to be the broody and break the others from being broody. If you want to break them we can help with that.

Let us know how you want to proceed and we might be better able to help you with details. Knowing what you are working with could really help with suggestions. Good luck!