Nature vs. Nurture: A Broody or an Incubator?

[Just G]

I've always used an incubator (Brinsea). I don't know if its necessarily better but I have always had good results. I just prefer having that control and being able to check up on eggs/chicks. It's also lovely to get that bond from day one. I only ever hatch a small amount but if i was hatching a larger amount I would definitely consider my silkie cross as my broody hen.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

I think I forgot to say this in my original post, but I do want an incubator at some point. The one thing with broodies is that you can't hatch eggs whenever you want, so an incubator would be nice to have on hand.

I've always used an incubator (Brinsea). I don't know if its necessarily better but I have always had good results. I just prefer having that control and being able to check up on eggs/chicks. It's also lovely to get that bond from day one. I only ever hatch a small amount but if i was hatching a larger amount I would definitely consider my silkie cross as my broody hen.

I keep hearing people say that incubators are better because you can check on the eggs. As long as you have a way of getting the hen out for a moment, you can totally steal her eggs, candle them, and put them back. I've learned a couple different tricks for kicking a mama out without getting pecked.

 

[tranquiliti]

I’ll need to give my full {novice!!} review later this month, but here in my first week of hatching I’ve had two keets pummeled to death in the coop, and no eggs hatched yet in the Brinsea mini.

 

[SueT]

I vote for broody hen. If you plan to keep any cockerel, I’d want one that imprints on the hen and not on humans. I think that imprinting on humans is a major contributor to a rooster who becomes human aggressive. If he imprints on a hen, he understands his identity and is given a course in Chicken etiquette. My hen raised boys are gentlemen. My problem boys were human raised…

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

I vote for broody hen. If you plan to keep any cockerel, I’d want one that imprints on the hen and not on humans. I think that imprinting on humans is a major contributor to a rooster who becomes human aggressive. If he imprints on a hen, he understands his identity and is given a course in Chicken etiquette. My hen raised boys are gentlemen. My problem boys were human raised…

I'm not entirely sure how that works... If he imprints on humans, why the heck would he attack them? If that was the case, if he imprints on a hen, he would attack all the hens!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm not entirely sure how that works... If he imprints on humans, why the heck would he attack them? If that was the case, if he imprints on a hen, he would attack all the hens!

Because hens know his language and they beat the stuffing out of rude males in a way that he can understand. Humans have different languages and behaviors than chickens and they generally can't beat the stuffing out of a bird without consequences

 

[SueT]

I'm not entirely sure how that works... If he imprints on humans, why the heck would he attack them? If that was the case, if he imprints on a hen, he would attack all the hens!

What @JacinLarkwell says in previous post.
Imprinting on humans confuses their identity and they don’t completely understand where they fit in.
I have seen the difference in my own birds. I realize there are probably exceptions, but for me, it works.
Here is a blurb I saved from an online article…

A Good Rooster
However, the best roosters are bird-imprinted—the chicks raised by hens. These roosters understand the natural order—they maintain discipline in the hen house but they are not aggressive toward people. Usually, belligerent roosters that attack people are human-imprinted birds, and they think of people as competitors for their hens.