Incubator????

[team_realtree]

Im looking at starting a new flock and have little to no knowledge on chickens other than what I have read online. If i want to hatch eggs why do you need to use an incubator over the hen just naturally sitting on the eggs? Also do you need a rooster in your flock for the hens to lay eggs? Thanks!!!

 

[taraann81]

Your chickens will lay eggs without a rooster but they will not be fertile. A hen works WAY better than an incubator to hatch eggs, however some breeds of hen rarely go broody and some of us just love incubating!

 

[team_realtree]

sorry i asked this in anther thread to. What does a hen going "broody" mean?

 

[taraann81]

It means she wants to sit on her eggs and hatch them out Act like an incubator if you wish, its a 24 hr a day job and last for about 21 days.

 

[team_realtree]

will she sit on unfertile eggs? Also is there ever a circumstance where she just disregards the eggs?

 

[chickenlittle32]

When a hen goes broody, she will sit on anything. LOL I have a silkie hen that will continuously try to hatch eggs...she will hatch them out and a couple weeks later, she will want to set again.

 

[team_realtree]

what determines whether a hen goes broody? So i guess if she only does some of the time by incubating you would have more control over when and how many eggs you can hatch correct?

 

[IggiMom]

Quote:
She does. You cannot make a hen go broody. It just happens. And yes, that is why an incubator might be more convenient. It incubates when YOU want it to.

There is a learnng curve with incubators, though.

Catherine

 

[DANNY]

The reason people say 101 is because that is what the instructions say and that's the way the incubator is designed to run. Running an incubator too cool is never better because it will result in pipping and dying and a lot of deformities. The last few years i have been running mine a little hot with great success. All that said you have to take into consideration that more thermometers are wrong than are right as well as other variables like where you are measuring temperature and the conditions outside the incubator.

 

[team_realtree]

cool