First post here! Without telling you my life story (that may come later!) after researching on chickens for the last couple of months, what are the benefits of incubating your own eggs when first starting out vs. buying chicks? I can understand wanting to do your own from an established flock to keep bloodlines, etc., but I was wondering if it is just easier to buy the chicks when starting out a new flock. I'll be joining in with a couple of other friends who started last spring with a small animal farm on of the friend's farm he inherited. Glad to finally be a member here, after lurking for so long.
It is easier to start with chicks because you know right away how many you will have and you don't have to worry about incubating. That being said, there is a special joy caring for the eggs and watching them hatch. If you get mystery eggs it is even more fun to watch and wait. It is up to you and how much effort you want to put into the process.
Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. I'll make a decision next month, but right now we're learning on raising two different breeds, Orpingtons, and one other, possibly RIR's. That being the case, we'll definitely be wanting to incubate our own flock's eggs when the time comes.
Have fun and let us know how it goes! There is a large incubating section on here to read up on and you can always ask any more questions you may have.
If you start with chicks, you know how many you are going to get and you can get them sexed if you wish. If raising chickens doesn’t work out, you have not spent the money on the incubator. If you incubate, you have to spend the money on the incubator, you never really know how many will hatch, and you don’t know how many males or females you will get. Both ways work. I have trouble saying that one is really better than the other. Good luck and glad you joined.
To me, buying chicks is much easier. I can get sexed chicks, so don't have to worry about the males. I can get different breeds, and mix and match as I like. If I get them from a feed store, they're already a few days old and have survived shipping and the weaker ones have died off, so my mortality rates are going to be lower. I can count my chicks, because they've already hatched lol. And after all that, I'm ordering five hens specifically to be broody hens, and looking at you tube videos on home made incubators, because I'm starting a breeding project and want to be able to hatch my own birds. Go figure!
