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

[SarahBeth9394]

Why do you all incubate and hatch your own eggs? I know yall have lots of different reasons from "it's a business" to "it's just fun" and I'm really dying to know. Who knows maybe I'll do it one day. So please tell me why. And for those who have chickens why do you prefer incubating yourself over letting moma hen?

 

[Chicky Tocks]

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.

 

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

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.

 

[mac80103]

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.

 

[jenjscott]

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.

 

[Intheswamp]

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

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:

 

[Mahonri]

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.

 

[william9792]

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

 

[mylilchix]

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