To incubate or not to incubate...

[Keri78]

I have 7 mth. old Orpington Hens that have not shown one side of broodiness yet...I wish they would, b/c I would LOVE to hatch out some babies. My cochins haven't even started laying yet so "broodiness" is still a while off for them. However, I have a step mom that has silkies that are constantly broody and I have another friend with a broody hen ...soooo....I'm thinking of buying some fetilized eggs and letting on of their hens do the work for me! Hoping for some "broody Mama vibes" this spring or summer from one of my girls Blessings, Keri

 

[JCoogle]

I have one lil white silkie that seems to always be broody. I am incubating right now because I do not want to stress her out anymore then she is because of the cold.

 

[PaintedPony]

People due use broody hens. I have two that will go broody and raise chicks very well. If I am not trying to hatch eggs on a specific schedule I can use those two, but if I am getting eggs from someone else I can't count on those two to be broody when "I" am ready for them to be. You can put ceramic or wooden eggs down for a broody hen to encourage her to brood and once she does leave her those eggs while you order some, but I prefer to have an incubator as a back up. My plan for the next year is to collect eggs from my own hens and incubate some and allow the hens to care for some. As another post said, I figure those two girls earn their keep in raising extra chicks when they aren't laying eggs.