You're right on with waiting until they are older to hatch from them. I think it's better that way if you have a choice.
With us, we were stuck trying to hatch from pullets/cockerels just to increase the numbers of live chickens to make sure that if something happened to the original birds, we'd have backups available. We've had to hatch from pullet eggs twice now - last year because it was the first year of serious breeding and we needed more birds period - and then this year we had a bloodline appear that was thought to have died out with their owner and me and the guy that wound up with just a handful of birds from that rare line, did not want to risk waiting another year to get more birds from that bloodline on the ground. I've seen subtle differences in how things go between using pullet/cockerel eggs and this year when we used fully matured hen/cock eggs from our original bloodline birds. I think the experienced breeders were correct to tell me to wait at least until they are a year old, preferably two years old before hatching from them if possible.
Incubators.....my favorite is the Brinsea which costs an arm and six legs. Could only afford the 7 egg capacity one, but did get the one with the automatic humidity pump. It's pretty much put the eggs in and go. Love it. Some people have had problems with the electrical connections on Brinseas but we haven't. It is great for keeping a consistent temp and humidity even in our house where we don't have central heat and air and the temp/humidity in the house fluctuate a lot.
Also have a Genesis Hovabator 1588. It's the Styrofoam, circulated air kind. It's ok. It's more affordable than the Brinsea but the thermometer is wrong on it and so it requires me to play with it to get the right settings down. It does hold the 41 capacity chicken egg turner that they sell at Tractor Supply, so that was cheaper than buying the whole kit with the turner included. I hate the open water tray for humidity but I found an after market humidity pump that works in it - stick the tubing into a container of water and put the other end through a hole in the Styrofoam and then I don't have to be worried about spilling water or checking water levels frequently depending. For a "cheaper" incubator, I like it but not as much as the Brinsea. It takes getting to know its quirks and isn't quite as self-running like the Brinsea is. But there is more room in it compared the more compact Brinseas.
Have been thinking about making my own with acrylic panels from Lowes since I discovered that you can get the various incubator components online - the thermo/hygrometer control panels, the fans, the heaters - everything. Have a friend that is using a ReptiPro brand, which apparently is also not real cheap, but she likes it and she is doing duck/geese with it.
The only reason I don't feed layer feed - besides most layer feed having lower protein, is the worry of calcium levels for the males being too high. So I just put out the oyster shell for the girls once they start laying. Having to do tons of different feeds - that's a pain. Have thought about the fermented feed and some friends swear by it. But with so many chickens, I just couldn't see toting out feed once or twice a day to the pasture for that many chickens. That and we really want to get back to the old-fashioned farm birds. The ones that don't need me to do special stuff in order for them to survive and thrive. I can't find anything in the antique books I read about fermenting feed for chickens. The farmers threw the chickens outside, survival of the fittest. The chickens ate grain that dropped out of the livestock bins and any grain that the lady of the house threw out to them. They ate grain from the farmer's fields, they ate the kitchen scraps, including whey, milk, cream. They foraged for bugs and vermin and were supposed to do their own part in hustling up some food. So I struggle with trying to get these guys to where they are not thrown to the wolves, yet can still eventually be self sufficient like old timey chickens were, once we have enough that we can let everyone free range all the time without me standing in the pasture with the shotgun to protect them.
