Topic of the Week - Broody vs Incubator

[ojust4today]

I prefer incubators. I select the eggs; I set the eggs when I want to; and I hatch the eggs in a safe warm environment! I just had a very successful hatch yesterday: I set 28 eggs in 3 incubators. After candling (7 days), I determined that 3 were not fertile...25 left. 21 hatched Friday and Saturday and today I checked the 4 eggs that did not hatch (all chocolate Marans) - only one of them had a chick that somehow could not peck its way out...the other 3 where non-fertile I have found with the dark shelled eggs, it is sometimes hard to tell if they are viable at candling. So of the 22 fertile eggs, 21 hatched and are thriving! I consider that a very successful hatch! My incubators are all Brinsea (Mini Eco, Mini Advance, & Maxi II Advance). BTW, most of the chicks are blue/olive EEs...my favorite little puffy cheeks!

Your chicks are precious!!

 

[ojust4today]

There isn't a way to induce a broody to brood until she is good and ready, unfortunately... if you really want to set eggs, best to invest in a more reliable bator... Hovabator 1602N is the cheapest of the usually reliables, and the Hovabator Genesis 1588 is the best bang for your buck in the cheaper and very reliable ones...

What is a bator? This is used to help a hen go broody?

 

[ojust4today]

I set every broody on eggs but have learned it is best to also set my incubator at the same time with at least a few eggs in case something happens to the eggs in a hen's nest or they fail to hatch. Last summer a gopher snake ate all the eggs my Marans hen was sitting on, just three days before they were due. I had chicks to give her in just a few more days, so it all worked out in the end. A couple of years prior, a hen lost all her eggs on a real hot day when I was not there to keep things cooled down with the hose. She also was near the end of the incubation period, but I had no chicks to give her and had to bring her inside the cool house for a few days to break her. It was real sad that she'd diligently sat for nearly three weeks and then had nothing. That caused me to change my habit to backing up with some incubator eggs. I love to see a mamma hen with her babies....

Would the hen that hatched eggs raise the eggs you incubate to with her flock even though they were incubated?

 

[ojust4today]

I was at this site last week asking the same question and got a few responses. I found out from the responses that one rooster to 25 hens will make for most of my eggs not being fertile. So I am looking for another rooster.
Secondly, I had two hens go broody last spring summer and I was unsure if the same hens are broody each year? Can anyone share weather they have experienced the same hens being broody if it happens around the same time?

 

[BantyChooks]

What is a bator? This is used to help a hen go broody?

It is slang for incubator.

I was at this site last week asking the same question and got a few responses. I found out from the responses that one rooster to 25 hens will make for most of my eggs not being fertile. So I am looking for another rooster.
Secondly, I had two hens go broody last spring summer and I was unsure if the same hens are broody each year? Can anyone share weather they have experienced the same hens being broody if it happens around the same time?

Yes, I have some hens that go broody every spring, just like clockwork.

 

[ojust4today]

It is slang for incubator.


Yes, I have some hens that go broody every spring, just like clockwork.

Awesome, my brother has helped me with all my hen questions in the past. When I told him about my sitting hens not understanding what was taking place at the time he said they are golden hens treat them like queens. I’m so hoping the same two do it again. They were so loyal just hope I did not ruin them!

Bator question... blonde moment. Duh!

 

[sevenfatcows]

Would the hen that hatched eggs raise the eggs you incubate to with her flock even though they were incubated?

Yes. What you have to do is introduce the new incubated chick after dark. Just add it/them to the nest. They will instinctively go under her feathers. I usually try to put them under a wing. She will just find them in the morning and if she's a good broody, adopt them. The only time adding chicks has failed for me was when I tried to introduce a couple of chicks in the light of day. I just wanted to see if she would take them as she had been a good foster mother to chicks added at night. She would not! Furthermore, now that she was on to my game, I could not give her anymore at night either for the duration of that brood. I try to do this within the first day or two of her eggs hatching. If she has unhatched eggs I leave them until the process is complete. The latest I have ever introduced new babies is four days after the broody hatch began. I have a neighbor with a gamefowl hen who will take chicks by day and for quite a few days after her hatch-she had two dozen total in one group last spring. So, it does vary hen to hen.

 

[sevenfatcows]

I was at this site last week asking the same question and got a few responses. I found out from the responses that one rooster to 25 hens will make for most of my eggs not being fertile. So I am looking for another rooster.
Secondly, I had two hens go broody last spring summer and I was unsure if the same hens are broody each year? Can anyone share weather they have experienced the same hens being broody if it happens around the same time?

Some of my broody hens raise two or three clutches per season. Some breeds are broody even more often than that.

 

[Sublight]

I a a broody supporter. I went to the feed store yesterday and bought 2 baby silkies, and 2 dominickers.
So now they are in a brood box, and every day I think... /sigh I wish they were under a broody. It would be so much easier, and so much more quiet.

 

[ojust4today]

Seven fat cows...what kind if hens do you have? Thanks for the info. Good to know about day light and dark and the timespan.

Sunlight... good point!!