Official BYC Poll: Why Do You Incubate/Hatch at Home?

[goldenyears]

I "used" to incubate. Primarily because my wife will not let me cull my herd naturally, or by selling?giving any away, and i am trying to only hatch two specific breeds.
however it is so much simpler for me, and safe for my baby chicks to let a broody hen do the heavy lifting.
I am no longer in a seemingly constant fight to break a broody hen. I no longer have to worry about youngsters being killed by the flock, or the time lost caring for a brooder house. Now all i have to do is let my chickens be chickens and wait for that magical bird that causes my wife to say; "don't you think we may have too many chickens".. I still cannot get rid of the old ladies that i want to rehome. But i think time may be on my side. All i have to do is outlive about 7 hens that range from 3 to 10 years old. lol

Wait a second - didja say you want to rehome your “old lady”???

 

[calboy147]

Wait a second - didja say you want to rehome your “old lady”???

That may end up the place to start.LOL
Except at that point i would be thr next rooster to be processed.

 

[Chookwagn]

Because broody hens won't hatch 50 chicks at once

 

[638858]

Numbers

 

[goldenyears]

I hatch with both broody hens and an incubator. Why? Because it suites my goals. One of my goals is to play with genetics. That means I need to hatch eggs. One of my goals is to eat meat, which ties in nicely with playing with genetics. I have chickens to eat since I hatch them.

I let hens go broody (3 currently) and also incubate eggs (30 incubating) for same reasons. Have got Silkie crosses with Bielefelders, Barred Rocks, Wyandottes and Leghorns plus mixes without Silkies. We also have a number of people who like to give me money for fresh chickens and eggs - who am I to argue? But I also have 50 Kosher Kings and Jackies coming in June. As a retiree this keeps me busy building stuff and engaging my 25 month old granddaughter.

 

[goldenyears]

I incubate my eggs. Mainly because my hens are terrible mothers. The last 4 babies they hatched only 1 is still alive... and he is brain damaged

Sounds like a song by Eminem!

 

[goldenyears]

It was hard to choose just three. lol We love hatching though for a number of reasons.

One reason that has stood out this year is that my deliveries from a hatchery we've used in the past have gone really badly. I've ordered from them twice this year and over the course of the first week, more than half of the chicks have died. I have 5 brooders, all doing well except for the mailed chicks from a certain hatchery. Same as last time I ordered from them. They refunded a few that died in shipping, but kind of insinuated that I was doing something wrong. The other annoying thing is that it cost $55 to ship them in the first place. Five of the fifteen I just reordered with credit from last time have died and I think we are done. My mailed poults from another source are all thriving and now out on grass, but most hatcheries don't have the breeds this one does. Maybe it's one of the stops the chicks make between them and me, but it's a lot of wasted money and lost chicks that don't generally happen just hatching them at home.

So we're back to hatching! My silkies will be happy.

I, too, had a recent bad hatchery experience with over 50% of the Silkie chicks dying within the first 48 hours. Wanted to get new genetics into my Silkie herd .

 

[AgnesGray]

I, too, had a recent bad hatchery experience with over 50% of the Silkie chicks dying within the first 48 hours. Wanted to get new genetics into my Silkie herd .

I wanted to bring some new ones in also. We don't generally sell silkies, just a few as pets, but some new bloodlines would have been helpful. Ah well

 

[early riser]

I like to let the hens do it. The babies have a mother that loves them and are taught free ranging by an expert. I think that’s what’s going to be important in the near future