Topic of the Week - Broody vs Incubator

[Lady of McCamley]

I am pro-broody!

I carefully select broodies who are calm, dedicated, and friendly when with chicks. I have three mamas who all teach the chicks to eat out of my hand. They produce the friendliest most social babies who are also chicken-wise and can easily navigate and thrive in flock dynamics.

I feel my broody raised chicks grow up faster than my pen raised chicks. They seem to feather out sooner and develop physical and social skills at a more advanced rate. I've even had some buyers comment on how much more competent my broody raised chicks are compared to non-broody raised ones. Some of this could be genetics. (I will say my mama heating pad chicks are closer to my broody raised chicks than my heating lamp chicks, I assume this is due to experiencing the natural cycles of day and night and eating and sleeping that goes with.) At some point I want to do a side by side study with siblings and see.

My broodies go in a pen attached to the main run until the chicks are starting to roost.

Broody raised chicks are so much less work for me too!

The only time I don't like broodies, is when I see hatching eggs for sale that I want, but none of my hens are currently broody...

My first year with a broody, I was doing my last grow out with feed store chicks (gasp with a heat lamp), so I did inadvertently compare artificially brooded, heat lamp, chicks to a broody hen. (I'm sure the results would be different with the mother heating pad.)

I totally agree. Side by side. My broody hatch chicks grew faster, feathered faster, and all layed earlier than the artificially brooded, though similar breeds. While the broody hatch chicks were already integrated, I had to slowly harden off and integrate my artificial chicks. I think it is the same as comparing greenhouse plant to hardiness of those who are naturally planted.

Yes, the only time I regret a broody is when I need to hatch some chicks and nobody is volunteering, but what I gain more than offsets those times.

LofMc

 

[Prop toe]

Trimming vent feathers on hens and cocks improve my hatch rates especially with older seed

 

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

Broody

 

[Prop toe]

That's a beautiful hens looks like a black mug game hen

 

[Lady of McCamley]

It should work..my silkie is raising austra whites now...and she had no problem hatching any other breeds eggs I've put under her. I usually only give her six eggs at a tine, so no more than six standard size chick's to raise since she's smaller.

Yes...it should work out nicely. Keep a broody stable, meaning a separate broody hutch and grow out pen for the 2 Silkies so they can do their work without interruption by the RIR's.

I re-built my flock (after burning down the original coop and flock from a heat lamp) starting with 1 Silkie and about 5 feed store chicks. My mother Silkie faithfully went broody about every 3 months. I originally bought breeder quality fertilized eggs, then as my flock grew and I had a good rooster, I placed my own fertilized eggs. I now have 10 years of a sustainable, all broody raised, flock. If I wanted to increase production for more than my family (and I give away a lot of eggs), I'd simply buy a couple of Silkies again.

Having the separate broody hutch keeps chicks and mothers safe, as standards often haze the Silkies, and they are definitely hawk bait. (I lost my original beloved Oma-San to a hawk feeling sorry for her watching her grow outs in the yard).

I purchased my 2 bantam Cochins from a turkey farmer that used a stable of Cochins to hatch turkeys so that she could sell their feathers to the craft market. Somebody was always brooding and eggs were always hatching.

So yes...it is definitely very doable provided you follow some basic brooding rules.

If you have more questions about your particular needs, please feel free to PM me.

LofMc

 

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

That's a beautiful hens looks like a black mug game hen

Svart Hona

 

[mtma]

My favorite is incubator (I do it in my classroom), and then give the chicks to a broody momma to adopt. Best of both worlds!
(I know it doesn't always work...brooder on backup!)

 

[jazzisbest]

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When it comes to hatching eggs there are two options available: broody hens and incubators. Each with its own set of pros and cons. Broody hens can be fickle, but are so easy, as they do all the work for you. Incubators allow you to incubate eggs when you want to and in any quantity, but have their own worries, such as power failures and other mishaps.

This week I would like to hear your thoughts on incubation and using broody hens or incubators. Which do you prefer and what did you find works best for you?

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For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

In my experience, there may be more than just two ways to incubate eggs. I was able to successfully hatch my own eggs by using a heat lamp inside a tub. If you're interested, I can share more details about my process on my thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-you-incubate-eggs-under-a-heat-lamp.1576910/

 

[knoturavggrl]

My first experience with hatching eggs has left me indecisive on this question. I read through this thread with avid interest to see the opinions of those far more experienced then I am and it seems they match my experience as they are divided on which is “best”.

I got a NR360 and preordered my eggs. The eggs shipped and I set up the incubator it was holding temp fine then I took the recommendation of getting an additional temp and humidity gauge. Well it was off. I returned it got a new one, all was well.

Set the eggs then had my 10 month old BCM go broody. I kept the eggs in the incubator until lockdown and monitored the seriousness of my BCM and she seemed determined to hold the course so I gave her the eggs to hatch out at lockdown. She did great BUT keeping the other chickens away from her nest when she got up was a difficult and one egg got broken. I gave her ten eggs 6 hatched and one of those had a umbilical hernia that ended up killing that chick.

Other challenges where once they were born, one of the other pullets was cruel and grabbed a chick by the leg and threw it. Now mama went after her and chased her away but the stress was to much for me. I relocated mama and the babies to a brooder in my garage.

They are doing great the babies are now a week old and mama is being an amazing mama. However, now I will have to reintegrate all of them.

I am left wondering if if I made the right decision or not and if I would have more alive chicks if I had let them hatch in the incubator.

My advice at this point is to carefully consider your set up for the sitting mama and then after they hatch out too. I thought I had but clearly was still left scrambling for solutions to problems I did not foresee.

Total count: 22 shipped egg’s received one broke in transport. Set 21, 10 made it to lockdown confirmed movement and today I have 5 alive and healthy chicks.

 

[Poptart3130]

Broodies are a lot easier, and I find it very educational and interactive to watch her care for her young. Incubators may be able to hold more eggs at a time, but are a lot harder, not to mention introducing them to the flock. My broody sat on 11 eggs, and hatched them all successfully.