Incubator or Chicken?

[PippinTheChicken]

Pippin isn't really a cuddly chicken so if she gets a chick, then it will probably learn from her.
Whilst my hand-raised chicks know me as their "MommaHen" and "treat-giver" so they are cuddly

 

[FeatherTay]

Both! Since I frequently hatch eggs, I use incubators the most, but I'll allow a hen to set on eggs when she goes broody. I don't get a lot of broodies though.

x2

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Is it unusual for hens to respect each other's nest?

Here in Mexico they call them gallina Fina, they're usually used for rooster fights (which my husband and I hate and abhor). There are many breeds that fall in that category; not an expert but I think we have Kelso, sweater, um, those are the only ones I've been able to sort of identify though the Internet. But I'll post pics tomorrow and maybe you or someone else can identify them (I'm pretty sure some of them might be cross breeds). They're really prolific, right now I have 5 chickens with small chicks (11 chicks, they'd have more but we took most of the eggs). I five others that went broody, and another four more that are laying eggs. It's mayhem really because they are super protective of their chicks with each other and we're even had to break up fights occasionally, our rooster has also broken up fights between them (he actually pushed back Hawks that have tried to take chicks (he's a Radio breed).

Mexico is wonderful in the art of peleas de gallo. It doesn't seem entirely interesting, but I've heard stories of chickens in Mexico from my Dad. They did butchering real different over there.

 

[K0k0shka]

You should add "both" as an option, as a lot of folks seem to do a combination of both.

This is all personal preference, and I guess it depends on how involved you want to be, or what the purpose of the chicks is. Incubator-raised and indoor-brooded chicks are more tame and human-friendly. This year I let a broody hatch chicks just to get the experience of having a mama with babies, which I thought would be cool for my kids to experience. A friend of mine gave me the eggs to hatch for her, and she'll be taking the chicks back after mom weans them, so tameness is not as important in this case. However, I also hatched chicks for my family in an incubator and am brooding them in the house, because I want those chicks to be tame and to let my kids handle them and play with them. If I were to keep pet chickens, I would not let a broody hatch them. They need maximum exposure to humans as early as possible. However, I am considering raising some extra chickens for meat next year, and those I can let a broody hatch and raise for me since they don't need to be as tame.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

You should add "both" as an option, as a lot of folks seem to do a combination of both.

This is all personal preference, and I guess it depends on how involved you want to be, or what the purpose of the chicks is. Incubator-raised and indoor-brooded chicks are more tame and human-friendly. This year I let a broody hatch chicks just to get the experience of having a mama with babies, which I thought would be cool for my kids to experience. A friend of mine gave me the eggs to hatch for her, and she'll be taking the chicks back after mom weans them, so tameness is not as important in this case. However, I also hatched chicks for my family in an incubator and am brooding them in the house, because I want those chicks to be tame and to let my kids handle them and play with them. If I were to keep pet chickens, I would not let a broody hatch them. They need maximum exposure to humans as early as possible. However, I am considering raising some extra chickens for meat next year, and those I can let a broody hatch and raise for me since they don't need to be as tame.

Yup that's what I'm seeing, didn't think to put both, but is there a way to change the poll?

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

Mexico is wonderful in the art of peleas de gallo. It doesn't seem entirely interesting, but I've heard stories of chickens in Mexico from my Dad. They did butchering real different over there.

Well, I guess it depends on what people do in the fights, we've seen that they sell razors to attach to the Roosters, and from what I know they fight to the death, but I might be mistaken. If your dad saw fights could you clarify if the ones they saw were to the death?

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Well, I guess it depends on what people do in the fights, we've seen that they sell razors to attach to the Roosters, and from what I know they fight to the death, but I might be mistaken. If your dad saw fights could you clarify if the ones they saw were to the death?

My dad would tell me stories of when he was little that he had older friends that had roosters to fight. Right there they wouldn't let them fight to the death, but he said there were big shows where people bet hundreds or even millions of pesos on a single cock, where they would fight to the death. He said sometimes they had knives attached to their feet, and sometimes they didn't. My grandma didn't really like them. They weren't interesting to her. But my dad, he saw a lot of things.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

My dad would tell me stories of when he was little that he had older friends that had roosters to fight. Right there they wouldn't let them fight to the death, but he said there were big shows where people bet hundreds or even millions of pesos on a single cock, where they would fight to the death. He said sometimes they had knives attached to their feet, and sometimes they didn't. My grandma didn't really like them. They weren't interesting to her. But my dad, he saw a lot of things.

Yeah we don't like the idea of putting an animal to fight to the death. And yes it's a big business, a normal rooster might cost about 7.5 dollars, but fighting Roosters (and more so if they have a reputation) will cost up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
A tradition that we have heard in between these people is that although Roosters are sold, in between them they will give chickens that are of good lineage as gifts.
I personally think that these animals are really beautiful and they deserve to live their chicken lives out without being fought (in some places I believe they even fight chickens).
The chicks are so beautiful and gorgeous from the moment that they are born that well we just love them. And they are excellent at laying eggs.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Yeah we don't like the idea of putting an animal to fight to the death. And yes it's a big business, a normal rooster might cost about 7.5 dollars, but fighting Roosters (and more so if they have a reputation) will cost up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
A tradition that we have heard in between these people is that although Roosters are sold, in between them they will give chickens that are of good lineage as gifts.
I personally think that these animals are really beautiful and they deserve to live their chicken lives out without being fought (in some places I believe they even fight chickens).
The chicks are so beautiful and gorgeous from the moment that they are born that well we just love them. And they are excellent at laying eggs.

You're not wrong about the gifting part. They often will gift each other fighting cocks as gifts. My game chicks are yellow with a chipmunky pattern. They are very consistent egg layers when they grow, IMO.

(do you mean hens by chickens? a rooster is also a chicken)