How hard is a "natural" hatching?

[zillzill401]

Hey BYC PEEPS! I have recently been confronted with the question of if I am going to hatch some of my own eggs. My response so far has been maybe, but looking at the price of equipment required to hatch your own eggs is kind of expensive for a high schooler with only a minimum wage job. I would love to look at my chickens and say "I hatched 'em all by my self!" but the prospect of that becomes grimmer and grimmer as the days go on. So the idea of letting a broody hen hatch her own eggs and raise her own chicky came to mind. I thought I might go to my BYC friends first and see what they thought before I tried this. So what do you all think?

 

[Chickenteacher]

A broody hen does it better than anyone or anything.....sounds like a plan!

 

[andalusn]

My two broody hens made it look like a cake walk

Now the peeps are 1 month old and running all over the place.

 

[Beekissed]

Best way to do it, IMO. Provide a cozy, private place and let the hen do all the hard stuff! One day you walk in and see little balls of fluff sticking their heads out of her wing feathers and you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done.....

No turning, no checking humidity, no worrying about the electric going off, no heat lamps in the brooder. No problems!

 

[bds613]

you can get instructions for building an incubator for a relativly small investment all over this website and the internet, but letting a mama hen do the work does take the stress off of you!

 

[merry hens]

I use natural incubation every chance I get. I have noticed that naturally incubated chicks are always plumper (in the abdomen) and healthier than incubator chicks. They NEVER EVER die during hatching or afterwards. Also, mother hens really know their stuff so they usually have 100% hatch rates. When mother gets to rear the chick she teaches them everything they need to know including what to eat and how to get away from predators. Overall, it produces a much healthier and happier bird.

The cons, though. Some broody hens are finicky and wont take the eggs you want to hatch. It can be tough getting a broody to hatch when and where you want her too. You have to wait till she goes broody. And some hens just arent that good at it.

From my experience it is less convenient than using an incubator, but well worth it because of the benefits.

By the way, I felt that way too when I first wanted to get an incubator...they can be pricey! But they do have those little giant styrofoam incubators that are only about $40 I think, and they do a decent job.

 

[Chic Chick]

It really depends if the breed of chickens you have tend to go broody or not, and they might not go broody when it's convenient for you. It's also best to have a separate pen for a broody so she wouldn't be bothered by other chickens and where she's safe from predators.
Otherwise you can build your own incubator using scrap lumber, coolers, fridges, aquariums, old drawers, etc and a little ingenuity. Good luck!

 

[pdsavage]

Lots of people even me have made there own bators.Alot of the stuff for the bators can be found around the house.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-incubator.html
I used missprissy's bator directions.

 

[zillzill401]

Well, BYC has done it again, assuaged my fears of natural hatching! Thanks to all of your help! Keep on posting with success stories, I like to hear positive things! OH! It's warm enough to clean out the coop! HURRAY!