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

[Show Sebright]

Curiosity if making a homemade incubator would work… it didn’t. 3 rotten eggs in my room

 

[kurby22]

I also chose Other, besides my other reasons because I like the idea of having selective control over temperament and continuing lineage of my favorite chickens and quail. It is also fascinating to learn more about chicken and quail genetics by seeing it wane being part of the whole process.

 

[-Flash-]

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

Mind you his brain damengingness isn't the hens fault, he fell in a bucket of freezing cold water and nearly died. He lived.

 

[Skyle]

I won't talk as a breeder, because it's obvious that, if you breed for showing, you have to hatch chicks. So, I'll talk as if I had a flock not for showing-breeding purposes.

First. I like to know all my birds from the moment they hatch, so they aren't scared by me and it's easier not only petting them, but also picking them up for checking them, medications and medicines.

Second. Here you can't just buy chicks online from hatcheries or in a TSC-type shop, neither people sells day-old chicks on Craigslist-type sites. There are few farms that sell chicks, but they are all Cornish Crosses. Some feed-shops have one day during the spring where they gift you chicks if you buy feed-bags, but many people say they give you only or mostly males.
So, the only other way to have day-old chicks is to hatch them yourself.

Third. I hate quarantining. I sometimes buy grown birds, but quarantining them in a separate area of the yard it's always stressful for me because I keep these birds closer to the neighbours house, so I'm afraid to annoy them with them. Plus, the red-sexlinks (all the others never escape), like to escape so I'm always afraid that one will escape, go near the quarantined birds and then return in the flock. One time I surprised one near the quarantining zone, she has passed the remaining time of the quarantine with her new friends. Luckly nobody was ill, so everything went well. So, returning to chicks. If I hatch them my own they'll have to stay in a brooder separated by the flock anyways, so it's like a quarantine, but without the risks of chicken escaping and going near the quarantine zone because the chicks are kept indoor.

Fourth. I know the whole clinical picture of all my chickens, with all the vaccinations they had and when and whose illnesses they were exposed to.

Fifth. I'm hatch and chick obsessed. I can't keep the incubator closed for more than few months.

 

[Perris]

I hatch at home primarily because I manage my chickens as naturally as possible (I just don't let them roost in trees anymore; too vulnerable to predators), and I like to give every bird that wants to the chance to reproduce. I love watching broodies teach their chicks how to forage and roost etc, and also to see roos freezing to imprint on new chicks (as in photo below, with 2 day olds just brought out for first time), or the sub roo look after the youngsters once mum has sent them away.

And occasional buying in of hatching eggs for a broody introduces new genes to the flock, and supports a breeder of rare or endangered breeds.

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Hand raised chicks are friendlier than buying adult hens. It's fun to see them hatching (wether it's with a broody or an incubator) and watch their personalities grow!

 

[Silexian]

I hatch my own. Mainly because I want better than hatchery quality chickens. That correctly represent their breed by being the right size and shape. With correct ear and leg color. Expressing proper feather type, color and pattern. I also like cross breeding to see if I can get the genetics that I want to come through. Such as a breed with an erect tail that produces sickle and saddle feathers that drag the ground. Or crossing to get different colors and patterns. Then working to get the new color or pattern to eventually breed true. I mainly use incubators because of the number of chicks I hatch in a year. I do give any hen that goes broody a batch of eggs to hatch. Then there is the usual one or two that manage to hide a nest and reappear with a string of chicks in tow. Also having a mainly closed flock. Where most new genetics are introduced by purchasing hatching eggs. From dedicated, reputable breeders. Cuts down on the chances of introducing disease to my existing flock.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Economics. Skip a few egg breakfasts, and you get free chicks.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I hatch because I hate broody raised chicks they are feral.

 

[jklhgyfhg]

I haven't tried it yet, but also selected other. Our goal is to have a close looped farm therefore, I will need to hatch my own chickens.