Natural care?

[Sgsf]

Why are so many people using Incubators? Aren't the Hens suppose to care for their egg, by sitting on it?

 

[SarahIrl]

Not everyone has broody chickens when they want chicks!! I have three laying hens, aged about 5 months and three incubatos that take a capacity of, um, 104 eggs between them....

 

[Sgsf]

(I'm new to chickens)

So your saying that hens don't have enough "coverage" to care for all the eggs?

 

[kid-n-chickens]

What she is saying is that you can not just put eggs under a hen and expect them to set on them. They have to decide that they want to set on eggs which is then called a broody hen. She will set on the eggs all except maybe 30-45minutes a day at which time she will then get up to eat,drink and poo. I have 6 hens and 1 roo and not one of them has went broody in two years. The girls wanted babies and decided it would be a good learning experience. Most people do prefer a broody hen it is a lot less work, but you can 't get the quanity that some people want to hatch considering most bators hold 30 eggs vs. a broody hen set on 4-12 eggs. Plus I like the incubator route b/c I can decide when I want to hatch eggs not be depending on mother nature. I like to hatch in February/March so they are laying before fall when then amount of day light hours drastically reduces.

 

[slackwater]

Many modern breeds of chickens don't go "broody" - that is part of what was sacrificed, behaviorally/genetically, when they were bred to be prolific layers. So...we have bred them such that they lay almost daily, and they don't raise their broods. Other times, it is a matter of convenience. If you want specific chicks to hatch at specific times, then an incubator is the only way to go.