Incubation vs buying baby chicks

[KM2H]

Even if you buy chicks of a breed that often go broody you don't know if any that you have ever will. If you get lucky and they do go broody, it could easily be at a time not really convenient for you. The only way you can control if, let alone when, you hatch eggs is if you get an incubator.

I really like my broody hens but that doesn't mean they don't come with their own issues. I've had a snake eat the eggs out from under a broody hen. I had a hen break a thin-shelled egg and ruin all the eggs in that clutch. They may not always return to the correct nest. If you let them hatch with the flock you need to mark the eggs you want them to hatch and check under them daily to make sure no strange eggs have shown up. If you isolate a broody hen you need to feed, water, and clean.

To be fair, most of the time a broody hen is really easy and doesn't take much extra time, not bad at all, and you don't usually have a lot of drama. If things go reasonably well the hen does practically all the work and there is nothing cuter than a broody hen and her chicks. Most of the time you don't have issues with an incubator once you get it set up. They usually take very little time and effort. Whether in an incubator or under a broody hen all eggs don't always hatch. You can have issues with both. There can be a learning curve with both methods but once you figure it out neither the incubator or a broody hen is that much work most of the time. Caring for chicks in a brooder may take time but I really don't spend that much time doing that either. Some people spend a lot of time on that.

Why do you want to hatch chicks? What are your goals. You have to plan on a lot of the chicks to be boys, what will you do with those? If you hatch many and keep all the girls you will soon be overrun with girls. Hatching baby chicks is a lot of fun but what will you do with them? The answer to that would guide me in what to do. Do you get an incubator, get pullets that you hope someday go broody, or get chicks from a hatchery, feed store, or neighbors.

I hatch over 40 chicks a year because that's what I need for the freezer. I hatch about half with an incubator and, in a good year, half with broody hens. In addition to eating them I keep replacements to keep my flock young and eat some older ones. That suits my goals. I purposely bred broodiness into my flock so I would get broody hens.


I don't know what's best for you. I don't know your goals or why you want to hatch how many chicks or how often. What is best for me is probably not the best for you because I think we have different goals. I'm not trying to convince you one way is better than others, more trying to give you things to think about. Good luck.

Thank you for this food for thought because I had not visited many of these scenarios in my mind. Now I need to think about all of these. With the previous chickens that came with the house I bought we had a fox come by and wipe them out in a few weeks, so I think in a way I was trying to prep for the inevitable losses that occur with chickens since it seems that everything loves to eat them and they are kind of helpless when it comes to fighting for their survival. My other thought was we are in florida and saw some ticks on one of my sheep so after doing a little digging found out that guinea fowl are excellent at eliminating ticks from pastures but very delicate to care for as keets so in my mind gaining a bit of experience with baby chicks would be better than going absolutely inexperienced and knee deep into guineas.

 

[KM2H]

I use large Rubbermaid storage containers and 125 watt heat lamp suspended above one side of the brooder. Make sure the lamps are secured for safety reasons. Put a thermometer under the heat lamp to make sure the brooder isn't too hot or too cold.

The lights I have are 250 watt, do you think this would be just too hot, or could it be manage with how far it can be in relation to the chicks? Sorry with all the questions, I just don't know of any other better group of people to ask than here.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Here's my 2 cents:

Caring for baby chicks is EASY compared with what you already do! Getting chicks from an NPIP breeder or hatchery is also easy. I'd get chicks and wait for one to go broody. Let a mama do all the work!

I will say that my Silkies are almost perpetually broody. They do a great job of taking care of themselves while broody (they don't lose a bunch of weight, they eat and drink, they dust bathe, etc.). Right now, I have one raising three chicks I bought at the store and stuck under her. So easy! And since I picked the chicks, I'm reasonably assured I didn't get any more roosters.

I vote get some Silkies (or another infamously broody breed) and enjoy the babies without all the extra work. You got your hands full enough as it is!

 

[Rm chickens]

I do both but I have 4 young kids and they love incubating eggs. I bought a couple nurture right 360 incubators this year and they have the clear plastic sides so the kids can watch them hatch. They also turn the eggs for you so not much more than adding water. We hatched 58 out 66 eggs this year using them so I was well pleased. Good luck

 

[Aunt Angus]

I do both but I have 4 young kids and they love incubating eggs. I bought a couple nurture right 360 incubators this year and they have the clear plastic sides so the kids can watch them hatch. They also turn the eggs for you so not much more than adding water. We hatched 58 out 66 eggs this year using them so I was well pleased. Good luck

Didn't even think about the education factor for the kids. My kids are all adults, and I have no grandkids yet (no, I'm not bitter). That does seem like a lot of fun!

 

[Bryce Thomas]

Silkie.

"I have tried all the tricks in the book, I have done the broody breaker cage, removed her from the nest, removed the nesting boxes literally everything and nothing works. When it does work the second she finds an egg shaped rock or a shaded area that's just nice for incubating eggs she goes broody. If I stop her then she will just go broody again and never stops. I don't want more chicks and both my 2 mature laying silkies are broody and don't lay eggs so I don't even have any eggs. I feel like giving up and letting her go broody for 21 days but she never stops and I know its only a matter of time before she dies of thirst or hunger because she refuses to get off the nest. I have 2 fake eggs for my 2 nesting boxes and even If I remove the 2 fake eggs shadow still goes broody. I honestly don't know what to do at this point and I know its not a how but a when as there is always a tiny chance of a broody hen dying on the nest for every day that a hen is on the nest. I have tried everything for about a month now and she still wants to go broody. If there was a guiness world record for the most broody hen on earth this chicken Shadow would have that achievement and its so stressing and annoying. I have even caged off every location that she would go broody before removing all the chickens then putting them back in so they are not locked in. The wire mesh (1x1 inch holes) was impossible to get through and it was 8 feet tall. Shadow is 2 times smaller than my rooster Koa and he can only jump 4 and a half feet. These cage mesh were 8 feet. I have wooden boards over everything. Not even a parrot would figure out how to get in and these boards were HEAVY and she STILL gets in to these locations. The boards seemed to have moved a little so im assuming she jumped up there somehow and scurried into the nesting box area, the cage mesh was not moved and there was no tunnel burrowed. She is some ninja chicken that wont stop being broody. This is not a troll post. She can literally get into an impossible to get in cage and still go broody."

Thats how hard it is to break em from broodyness

Also get 3 of em as their eggs are really good and you want to introduce 3 chickens at a time or more but not less as if it were just 1 silkie you bought then 7 chickens would be bullying the poor silkie

Oh yeah FYI when they begin to lay or when mine started to lay they go broody every month for at least 1 week, my black hen tries to hatch rocks lol

 

[Aunt Angus]

Silkie.

"I have tried all the tricks in the book, I have done the broody breaker cage, removed her from the nest, removed the nesting boxes literally everything and nothing works. When it does work the second she finds an egg shaped rock or a shaded area that's just nice for incubating eggs she goes broody. If I stop her then she will just go broody again and never stops. I don't want more chicks and both my 2 mature laying silkies are broody and don't lay eggs so I don't even have any eggs. I feel like giving up and letting her go broody for 21 days but she never stops and I know its only a matter of time before she dies of thirst or hunger because she refuses to get off the nest. I have 2 fake eggs for my 2 nesting boxes and even If I remove the 2 fake eggs shadow still goes broody. I honestly don't know what to do at this point and I know its not a how but a when as there is always a tiny chance of a broody hen dying on the nest for every day that a hen is on the nest. I have tried everything for about a month now and she still wants to go broody. If there was a guiness world record for the most broody hen on earth this chicken Shadow would have that achievement and its so stressing and annoying. I have even caged off every location that she would go broody before removing all the chickens then putting them back in so they are not locked in. The wire mesh (1x1 inch holes) was impossible to get through and it was 8 feet tall. Shadow is 2 times smaller than my rooster Koa and he can only jump 4 and a half feet. These cage mesh were 8 feet. I have wooden boards over everything. Not even a parrot would figure out how to get in and these boards were HEAVY and she STILL gets in to these locations. The boards seemed to have moved a little so im assuming she jumped up there somehow and scurried into the nesting box area, the cage mesh was not moved and there was no tunnel burrowed. She is some ninja chicken that wont stop being broody. This is not a troll post. She can literally get into an impossible to get in cage and still go broody."

Thats how hard it is to break em from broodyness

Also get 3 of em as their eggs are really good and you want to introduce 3 chickens at a time or more but not less as if it were just 1 silkie you bought then 7 chickens would be bullying the poor silkie

Oh yeah FYI when they begin to lay or when mine started to lay they go broody every month for at least 1 week, my black hen tries to hatch rocks lol

I have 2 Silkies in a flock with 6 large breed hens (and 1 banty rooster and 3 chicks). Those two are not even close to being at the bottom of the pecking order! Lol! But, yes, if you do get Silkies, get more than one. And my girls do a very good job being broody. But every bird us an individual.

But - for the kids - I change my vote to an incubator! Haha! Maybe if I ever have grandbabies (no, I'm not bitter), I'll do the same.

 

[KM2H]

I totally hear you that must be so frustrating, specially when one gets attached and you just want to protect them the best you can. I have heard that silkies struggle with hotter climate and I'm in florida so I think I will hold off on silliest at least until the kids are older and can maybe be more involved with helping to care for the flock.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I totally hear you that must be so frustrating, specially when one gets attached and you just want to protect them the best you can. I have heard that silkies struggle with hotter climate and I'm in florida so I think I will hold off on silliest at least until the kids are older and can maybe be more involved with helping to care for the flock.

Not trying to change your mind, but it was 103° here today. My Silkies do as well as any of my others. My Welsummer seems to have the hardest time, actually...

 

[KM2H]

Not trying to change your mind, but it was 103° here today. My Silkies do as well as any of my others. My Welsummer seems to have the hardest time, actually...

That is good to know. I won't totally discount them then. They are pretty cute.