Incubation verses letting the hens set their eggs ?

[medan]

will my bourbon red hens set their eggs or do I need to incubate also how many days do I wate before i start incubating and decide the hens are not going to set the eggs ?

 

[Jmiller429]

you'll get alot more eggs if you incubate them, if you let her set, she'll lay a clutch and be done most likely.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

If i'm going to let a hen sit on eggs I mark the eggs in the nest with a date. That way you can tell how old they are and if any new ones get laid in the nest after she starts sitting. I have found that with hen raised poults they are stronger and better overall than incubated poults, just about all of our breeders are hen raised. The down side to hen raised is you are going to loose some poults no matter how hard to try not to.

Steve

 

[Taylor]

The Hens are the best incubator you can get! everytime i get a hen wanting to set, i always put some kind-of eggs under her. be guinea eggs, turkey eggs, duck eggs. if you have broody hens, keep your turkeys laying and collect the eggs and put them under her and any extras put in the incubator.