Out of curiosity and the desire for knowledge....

For me it's a first experience and I want to say that I've done it.

Second reason is because I feel that my roo to poulet ratio will be better than purchasing them from a store. I don't trust hatcheries. They have to get rid of the roos somehow and I don't want to end up with more roos than I need. I once bought straight run chicks and ended up with all 12 of them roos.

Third as for a broody, I have one. But she's not in a separate pen and I'm not currently set up for that. I'd be afraid the other hens would kill the babies.

 

We homeschool, so it's partly a science project.

I agree with Chicky Tocks about straight runs being mostly roos. Call me paranoid. LOL

Also, we have conflicting laws here. We're only allowed 6 chickens, but you have to buy a minimum of 25 at the feed stores. Makes no sense to me. Plus they don't have the breeds I wanted, so here we are.

 

I have an day old chick order coming from McMurray early next month. In the meantime, a friend gave me a hova-bator turner, so I figured I may as well buy an incubator. I have 15 eggs in there now, not even a week yet, but it is fun, and I am excited to see what hatches.

 

You can get chicks when you want them, you don't have to wait for a hen to go broody, then scramble around trying to get eggs you want to hatch under her.

 

I am just starting out and will incubate eggs to begin with. My reason is that I hope to purchase them from a breeder (probably from here on BYC) rather than a large hatchery. By doing this I feel that I'll be getting birds that are bred for better temperment and quality.

Ed

 

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This way, I can get the purebred chicks from good breeders. Most times you can't get that from hatchery stock.

I'm hoping to breed some Ameraucanas that lay well. We'll see how I do.

 

i just love to hatch eggs, and want to do my part to help the chickens take over the world! i hatch out between 100 and 150 eggs most months, but did 300 this month so far. william

 

I've started it for 2 reasons. We homeschool too and it's a great learning experience for the kids. The second is because I'd like to start breeding certain birds. It's easier to get eggs from the smaller, better breeders. This way I know that my birds will be closer to the standard and who their parents were.

Sonja