Incubating ISN'T ethical

[Chosen Chickens]

Okay, I was thinking about this yesterday as I was reading some of these threads about the troubles some were having getting their chickens to hatch, and also reading about the percentage of those you start with that actually hatch, and I thought for a moment.........

If the hatch rates are best with the mother hen laying on them instead of incubating, is it in some way unethical to try and incubate ourselves knowing full well that we are going to kill more chickens then if we just let the mother lay on them?

Before I get destroyed, this is some what tongue in cheek, but was curious what everyones feelings on something like this was. Please let me know, because I know there can some good arguments for and against

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I think it is best for "mom" to hatch, but right now I have no broody hens & I WANT CHICKIES!!!

Soooo.....My bator is running full blast!

 

[FortWorthChicks]

hmm... ok. Just got an incubator lol.

My response would be... My hens lay way more eggs than they can hatch, so maybe the rate evens out because they can only fit so many eggs under em. Alot would go bad if left to the momma.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

some breeds will not incubate their own eggs so we are just trying to help them out when we can. especially if there isn't another breed to help with brooding over the eggs for them.

 

[Chosen Chickens]

Okay.... I want to clarify..... as far as unethical, I meant more the ones that begin to develop, or develop all the way and don't hatch as the unethical thing... where you have a full grown chick and it dies where it would have had a better chance with a hen.... OR it would have been better if never developed... like if the hen didn't have enough room under her is it better that they just don't incubate the left over eggs, or is it better that they develop them and let half or whatever die?

 

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

Quote:
you will still have that happen with chicks going all the way and then not pipping and zipping. it all depends on the hen and how well she will be devoted to her babies. most hens will not help those out of their shells if they are having issues getting flipped in the shell to get to the air cell, and if they get too tired trying they will quit.

this sometimes depends on the breeds too, like the tufted birds that carry the 'lethal' gene.

 

[Chosen Chickens]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

Yea I agree with you about the can of worms... and maybe I was hoping just a little bit to open that can... as long as it stays civil! Chickens are soooo mass produced and people typically dont have the same emotional connection to chickens as to humans (except for maybe on this site) so maybe this is a way to have some of these discussions without the emotional aspect?

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

It's just his thoughts. He's not DEAD_SET against incubating, there are 4 eggs IN his bator!

 

[RM44]

I don't have an incubator, am not planning to have a rooster any time soon, am not interested in eating fertilized eggs or breeding chickens. I'm a small time hobby chicken keeper. (I wanted to lay out my position before giving my opinion, so you guys could decide if you even want to consider it.)

But the way I see it is this: many times the eggs wouldn't have hatched if these folks didn't try to incubate. And the eggs would have either been eaten or discarded (some of them; blood spots, etc....) anyway. I don't see the harm in folks trying their hand. I don't believe the chickens ever physically "feel" anything when they're in the eggs, and they're certainly not suffering. I think the folks incubating the eggs suffer more than the chicks do when they have an unsuccessful hatch. Plus many times those folks are trying to hatch their own in order to continue a healthy line, or to be assured that they replinish their own stock using birds that have certain known traits like good egg laying, or show quality, and that haven't been exposed to disease.

Overall, I'm totally okay with the thought of folks incubating, mailing eggs, losing entire hatches, taking chances with shipping, having power outages, etc., and I see absolutely nothing unethical at all about the "average joe" trying to hatch chicks.

That's just my opinion. I do understand how some folks could feel a bit squeemish about half-formed or almost fully formed chicks dieing in an incubator, but I don't think these folks trying to hatch with good intentions should feel bad when something goes wrong.

I would have a totally different opinion if folks were just incubating them half-way in order to "kill" them for some reason, but I can't see that ever happening.