Incubator or Broody hen

[TheresaMi]

I have been (first time)incubating some eggs I ordered online. I am on day 16. My BO also became broody 2 days ago and I can't decide if I should let her finish the job for me or keep using my incubator. She only just started laying in late November 2020. I'm just not sure if she will be a good mother because she gets off the nest to eat treats if she sees me feeding the flock and goes right back.

I'm torn and can't decide. If I give her the eggs to finish hatch and they don't make it or she's bad at it, I'll be sad. Then again, I don't want to part with them as I feel like it's my duty to take them through the full hatching period since I started it. Lol what to do guys??

 

[DobieLover]

I have been (first time)incubating some eggs I ordered online. I am on day 16. My BO also became broody 2 days ago and I can't decide if I should let her finish the job for me or keep using my incubator. She only just started laying in late November 2020. I'm just not sure if she will be a good mother because she gets off the nest to eat treats if she sees me feeding the flock and goes right back.

I'm torn and can't decide. If I give her the eggs to finish hatch and they don't make it or she's bad at it, I'll be sad. Then again, I don't want to part with them as I feel like it's my duty to take them through the full hatching period since I started it. Lol what to do guys??

How many eggs did you set?
I'm 100% pro-broody. I'd give her the eggs.
It's perfectly normal for broodies to get off the nest for breaks. You wrote she went right back on.
Have you considered just giving her a couple of the eggs and keeping an equal number of fake eggs under her as you have in the bator so you can see how she is when the ones under her hatch? If she's good with them, you can slip the bator chicks under her at night after they all hatch, remove the fakes and she can raise the chicks for you.
If she's a dud mother, you can take the chicks back from her, raise all of them yourself and break her broodiness with a crate.
If you are thinking about letting her finish incubating the chicks and raising them, the flock will need to be switched over to chick starter or Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side so she can feed the chicks. It's a good practice regardless as feeding that style offers higher levels of protein and the excess calcium is only taken by the active layers.

 

[TheresaMi]

How many eggs did you set?
I'm 100% pro-broody. I'd give her the eggs.
It's perfectly normal for broodies to get off the nest for breaks. You wrote she went right back on.
Have you considered just giving her a couple of the eggs and keeping an equal number of fake eggs under her as you have in the bator so you can see how she is when the ones under her hatch? If she's good with them, you can slip the bator chicks under her at night after they all hatch, remove the fakes and she can raise the chicks for you.
If she's a dud mother, you can take the chicks back from her, raise all of them yourself and break her broodiness with a crate.
If you are thinking about letting her finish incubating the chicks and raising them, the flock will need to be switched over to chick starter or Flock Raiser with oyster shell on the side so she can feed the chicks. It's a good practice regardless as feeding that style offers higher levels of protein and the excess calcium is only taken by the active layers.

I think I'll try giving her half the eggs then. I only have 10 eggs in the incubator. I'll be satisfied if I get atleast 4 chicks out of all this They are silkie eggs and so far they are all growing nicely from the candling as far as I can tell. She is currently sitting on 2 eggs. Does it matter what time of day to place the eggs under her?

 

[DobieLover]

I think I'll try giving her half the eggs then. I only have 10 eggs in the incubator. I'll be satisfied if I get atleast 4 chicks out of all this They are silkie eggs and so far they are all growing nicely from the candling as far as I can tell. She is currently sitting on 2 eggs. Does it matter what time of day to place the eggs under her?

Are the eggs she is sitting on live? If she's only been on them 2 days remove them now and put fakes under her.
You don't want eggs under her that were set at different times. She would abandon the unhatched eggs to raise the chicks.
I always remove the eggs from under a broody even if I want her to brood. It's the nest site she attaches to more than the eggs. A broody will try to hatch a rock if it's in her nest.
Where is she currently broody? She should be in a ground nest. If not, you will need to put up something to keep the chicks from falling out of the nest after they hatch. Once they all hatch, mom and her brood can be moved to a ground nest.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

 

[TheresaMi]

Are the eggs she is sitting on live? If she's only been on them 2 days remove them now and put fakes under her.
You don't want eggs under her that were set at different times. She would abandon the unhatched eggs to raise the chicks.
I always remove the eggs from under a broody even if I want her to brood. It's the nest site she attaches to more than the eggs. A broody will try to hatch a rock if it's in her nest.
Where is she currently broody? She should be in a ground nest. If not, you will need to put up something to keep the chicks from falling out of the nest after they hatch. Once they all hatch, mom and her brood can be moved to a ground nest.

No the 2 eggs she's sitting on are infertile. I just let her sit on them to encourage her to brood since I wanted her to raised the chicks when they hatch. After today, I think I will just finish the hatch in the incubator and sneak them under her and see how she fares. She is too unpredictable. I originally plan to brood them myself but if she adopts them after hatch it will be less work for me. I already have everything setup for the broody including a separate nest/coop & run. I had a broody game mama last summer that hatched her own chicks so I'm hoping this BO will be as great a mother as she is.

 

[kyeschicks]

I would give her the eggs then. Mother hens know best