Where Do You Stand With Incubation?

[The Angry Hen]

I like a good broody to do all the hard work. It's so much easier! But if you are needing to hatch lots of eggs you'd need an incubator.

I've seen my broodies get off their externally pipped eggs for a snack or sip of water. I've seen them turning eggs during what in an incubator would be 'lockdown'. All the chicks hatched fine. I figure they know what they are doing. And they teach their babies you mean good things. Plus there's nothing cuter than their interactions. I love it!

Hello,

Yes, you are very right!

-The Angry Hen (K)

 

[Dawnclucks22]

I honestly don't have experience with incubating my own eggs, but I'd say if you have a reliable broody mama and mostly docile chickens go broody. I wouldn't trust my dominant hen because she can be rather aggressive so in that case I would use an electric incubator, but it's your decision.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Ok I support both I totally agree with natural Broody hens but if it's to supply chickens to a feed store for sell I've been told you can control the sex of a chick by temp of the egg idk if this is true or not but I prefer a mixed batch becouse as of now I'll eat the rooster that are more the the one I need but I've also been told rirs don't brood but I have yet to have a rirs that didn't brood

I think that is true with sexing them by the egg... I don't use my chickens for meat, but for you that's a good idea.

Thank you both for your answers!

-The Angry Hen (K)

 

[The Angry Hen]

I honestly don't have experience with incubating my own eggs, but I'd say if you have a reliable broody mama and mostly docile chickens go broody. I wouldn't trust my dominant hen because she can be rather aggressive so in that case I would use an electric incubator, but it's your decision.

Hello,

Yes, you are correct!
Electric incubators are great!

I prefer broody hens, but I believe it is good to have an electric incubator handy,
like if a hen gave up on eggs before they hatched,

it is good to have one.

-The Angry Hen (K)

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

I think that is true with sexing them by the egg... I don't use my chickens for meat, but for you that's a good idea.

Thank you both for your answers!

-The Angry Hen (K)

It's not true.

 

[BantyChooks]

It's not true.

X2. That myth keeps popping up. Incubating at a degree different in temps is just going to give you bad hatch rates and deformed or weak chicks.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Again, I keep saying I am no expert... I don't want to be wrong or mislead others I was trying to think if it was or wasn't true. Sorry if I was not right.

-The Angry Hen

 

[Lady of McCamley]

As there are 5 pages in this thread already, I haven't taken the time to read all the posts (sorry), but this topic is near and dear to my heart...so I will offer what I do and why.

I too have no objection to the idea of artificial brooding, it has its place and purpose, especially if you are into quantity and must incubate year round or at a time you desire. My grandmother owned a chicken ranch (egg production), and she did not waste time with brooding hens....she was in it for the business...however, I am seeking sustainable eggs for family use...a small holder....so I can work around the schedule of brooding hens.

Understanding that, I solely use brooding hens now. Why? Well, that is a bit of a story.

The story:
After my first batch of feed store chicks, which I heat lamp brooded in the garage (very messy, hubby hated the mess in his garage), then transitioned into a coop, then put a flood lamp inside the coop during a particularly bad cold snap for these transitioning young pullets, I manged to BURN DOWN the entire coop....to the ground...nothing but ash heap. (see photos below).

Though we thought things were snug enough, all electrical gear was new and outdoor rated, one of the pullets knocked the flood lamp into straw and poof. It happened fast. No one had heard or seen anything during the night between my last check at midnight and my husband's breakfast at 7am. No neighbor had called 911. It burned like a roman candle when it went up searing two trees (killing one of them), and melting the heavy extension cord a third way back to the house, kicking the circuit breaker.

There was nothing left the next morning (when we saw the results in morning light) but an ash heap, gently warm (as it had already cooled), with metal nails sticking in the pile of ash. I sat down and cried on the wet (Oregon) ground thankful that we had not lost the house, nor the neighbor's house, especially since our wood pile and the neighbors was close to that back fence. (Good Lord, I could have been another Mrs. O'Leary's cow!!!! for the entire neighborhood!!!!)

I was also crushed for the loss of our entire first flock. What a horrible way to go. Talking with friends, it turns out a number of my chicken friends had burned a coop down with heat lamps.

The following spring (February), I bought more feed store chicks to start over again (with a gift certificate from close friends and a hand me down coop from another...what sweet hearts.) With great trepidation I heat lamp brooded in the garage again (now cranky and nervous husband). I was extremely fearful to sleep at night for fear somebody might knock something down, although we had secured things very tightly. That year, one of my Buff Orpingtons went broody. I had no clue what that was all about, but it got me to thinking, and researching.

While my commercial hatchery quality BO quit the job mid-way, I decided that is the way I wanted to go. Brood with hens. So after researching for the best brooding hens, in a summer swap, I purchased an experienced and proven Silkie mother from a breeder, my first broody, Oma San.

She taught me what brooding was about, being dutiful to go broody about every 3 to 4 months. I didn't use her that first year until spring, though her first brood was in November, as I didn't think hens could hatch and brood in winter (they do, and do fine). Over time, watching her and the growth of those chicks, her tender care, I discovered that a GOOD brooding hen is a thing of beauty and worth her weight in gold. Her hatch rate of fertile eggs excellent. Her survival rate of hatched chicks superb.

My broody reared chicks grew faster, feathered in quicker, (good grief, they are up scratching by day 3 or 4...even in sub-freezing weather!!!! with just their little down jackets), to mature faster, to lay earlier. In all, they simply were sturdier and better integrated into the flock than my artificially brooded chicks...and I know...as that first spring I had a set of feed store chicks in the house (my last) and the set of chicks under a hen...in case the hen didn't work out.

I also noticed it was a whole lot less messy (no grumpy husband), a whole lot less work on my part, and no electrical hazards....all for happier, healthier, chicks. Hmmmm.

I was sold on the idea of brooding hens and that summer had hubby build a "stable" for broody hens...bantam types...that will brood for me regularly (which he was happy to do as it got chickens permanently out of the garage).

I consistently use Silkies and bantam Cochins, then use whatever large fowl volunteers happen along. I have an Isbar-Marans hen right now that has been an excellent mother for me for the last 2 years...her last hatch rate was 9 out of 8 (little stinker snuck one under her wing

I have learned that to brood with a hen properly for the best results, you do need to set things up well. That means clean nests with deep soft bedding that can't be kicked out (low lipped box), isolated so that other hens can't stomp on eggs or chicks or push broody banties around, and a netted and reinforced grow out pen attached to the broody hutch so that hawks don't fly by for the little chicken nuggets.

It also means getting a hen that has the proper genetics for brooding. Yes, you are correct that the commercial industry has tinkered with poultry genetics (looking for production) such that commercial hatchery hens won't brood well or at all. They have been genetically selected against brooding.

If you use the heritage type birds or game fowl from quality breeders, you can get some excellent broodies. Silkie and bantam Cochins are known for being good, but you have to view the line and know the bird to make sure you've got a proper gal.

The science is even behind the faster growth for the chicks. Most of my broodies especially like to brood in early February which means babes are hatching and growing in the lengthening daylight. That means the pituitary gland is getting enough daylight to produce the hormones necessary for laying. It has not been unusual for my broody chicks hatched in January or February even early March to be laying by 16 to 18 weeks, or if slower developing breed, a good 2 to 4 weeks earlier than the "average" start for the breed.

It does have its drawbacks. If you have a finicky hen, with poor genetics, she will quit on you. If you interfere too much or have her in a stressful situation, she can abandon the chicks or even harm them. (But don't distrust her instincts. Hens will often drive away poor, weak genetic chicks. Those that fall out of the nest and don't get back in have something wrong with them, in my experience).

I also have to watch for more predators as I am placing in the outdoors chirping little tasty nuggets.

You also have to work on the broody hen's schedule, so setting expensive, purchased, breeder eggs can be tricky. For those, sometimes you simply have to use artificial incubators and brooders or buy at the feed store.

Feed store chicks often don't foster well, so when you see a chick you want at the store, it has been conditioned to seek warmth from the heat lamp. Feed store chicks will often fear the hen, and don't see her as comfort. (The brooding hen actually will talk and cluck to her chicks while they are in the shell. The bonding begins before hatch.)

So if you need to hatch/brood chicks on your time frame or need large quantities, artificial incubation and hatching are essential. A whole industry is built around that.

But if you are a small holder who simply enjoys chickens as a hobby or wish to have a sustainable life style for your family, brooding hens are an excellent means to provide that.

My experiences,
LofMc

The photos on my member page
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/lady-of-mccamleys-member-page.53374/

 

[The Angry Hen]

As there are 5 pages in this thread already, I haven't taken the time to read all the posts (sorry), but this topic is near and dear to my heart...so I will offer what I do and why.

I too have no objection to the idea of artificial brooding, it has its place and purpose, especially if you are into quantity and must incubate year round or at a time you desire. My grandmother owned a chicken ranch (egg production), and she did not waste time with brooding hens....she was in it for the business...however, I am seeking sustainable eggs for family use...a small holder....so I can work around the schedule of brooding hens.

Understanding that, I solely use brooding hens now. Why? Well, that is a bit of a story.

The story:
After my first batch of feed store chicks, which I heat lamp brooded in the garage (very messy, hubby hated the mess in his garage), then transitioned into a coop, then put a flood lamp inside the coop during a particularly bad cold snap for these transitioning young pullets, I manged to BURN DOWN the entire coop....to the ground...nothing but ash heap. (see photos below).

Though we thought things were snug enough, all electrical gear was new and outdoor rated, one of the pullets knocked the flood lamp into straw and poof. It happened fast. No one had heard or seen anything during the night between my last check at midnight and my husband's breakfast at 7am. No neighbor had called 911. It burned like a roman candle when it went up searing two trees (killing one of them), and melting the heavy extension cord a third way back to the house, kicking the circuit breaker.

There was nothing left the next morning (when we saw the results in morning light) but an ash heap, gently warm (as it had already cooled), with metal nails sticking in the pile of ash. I sat down and cried on the wet (Oregon) ground thankful that we had not lost the house, nor the neighbor's house, especially since our wood pile and the neighbors was close to that back fence. (Good Lord, I could have been another Mrs. O'Leary's cow!!!! for the entire neighborhood!!!!)

I was also crushed for the loss of our entire first flock. What a horrible way to go. Talking with friends, it turns out a number of my chicken friends had burned a coop down with heat lamps.

The following spring (February), I bought more feed store chicks to start over again (with a gift certificate from close friends and a hand me down coop from another...what sweet hearts.) With great trepidation I heat lamp brooded in the garage again (now cranky and nervous husband). I was extremely fearful to sleep at night for fear somebody might knock something down, although we had secured things very tightly. That year, one of my Buff Orpingtons went broody. I had no clue what that was all about, but it got me to thinking, and researching.

While my commercial hatchery quality BO quit the job mid-way, I decided that is the way I wanted to go. Brood with hens. So after researching for the best brooding hens, in a summer swap, I purchased an experienced and proven Silkie mother from a breeder, my first broody, Oma San.

She taught me what brooding was about, being dutiful to go broody about every 3 to 4 months. I didn't use her that first year until spring, though her first brood was in November, as I didn't think hens could hatch and brood in winter (they do, and do fine). Over time, watching her and the growth of those chicks, her tender care, I discovered that a GOOD brooding hen is a thing of beauty and worth her weight in gold. Her hatch rate of fertile eggs excellent. Her survival rate of hatched chicks superb.

My broody reared chicks grew faster, feathered in quicker, (good grief, they are up scratching by day 3 or 4...even in sub-freezing weather!!!! with just their little down jackets), to mature faster, to lay earlier. In all, they simply were sturdier and better integrated into the flock than my artificially brooded chicks...and I know...as that first spring I had a set of feed store chicks in the house (my last) and the set of chicks under a hen...in case the hen didn't work out.

I also noticed it was a whole lot less messy (no grumpy husband), a whole lot less work on my part, and no electrical hazards....all for happier, healthier, chicks. Hmmmm.

I was sold on the idea of brooding hens and that summer had hubby build a "stable" for broody hens...bantam types...that will brood for me regularly (which he was happy to do as it got chickens permanently out of the garage).

I consistently use Silkies and bantam Cochins, then use whatever large fowl volunteers happen along. I have an Isbar-Marans hen right now that has been an excellent mother for me for the last 2 years...her last hatch rate was 9 out of 8 (little stinker snuck one under her wing

I have learned that to brood with a hen properly for the best results, you do need to set things up well. That means clean nests with deep soft bedding that can't be kicked out (low lipped box), isolated so that other hens can't stomp on eggs or chicks or push broody banties around, and a netted and reinforced grow out pen attached to the broody hutch so that hawks don't fly by for the little chicken nuggets.

It also means getting a hen that has the proper genetics for brooding. Yes, you are correct that the commercial industry has tinkered with poultry genetics (looking for production) such that commercial hatchery hens won't brood well or at all. They have been genetically selected against brooding.

If you use the heritage type birds or game fowl from quality breeders, you can get some excellent broodies. Silkie and bantam Cochins are known for being good, but you have to view the line and know the bird to make sure you've got a proper gal.

The science is even behind the faster growth for the chicks. Most of my broodies especially like to brood in early February which means babes are hatching and growing in the lengthening daylight. That means the pituitary gland is getting enough daylight to produce the hormones necessary for laying. It has not been unusual for my broody chicks hatched in January or February even early March to be laying by 16 to 18 weeks, or if slower developing breed, a good 2 to 4 weeks earlier than the "average" start for the breed.

It does have its drawbacks. If you have a finicky hen, with poor genetics, she will quit on you. If you interfere too much or have her in a stressful situation, she can abandon the chicks or even harm them. (But don't distrust her instincts. Hens will often drive away poor, weak genetic chicks. Those that fall out of the nest and don't get back in have something wrong with them, in my experience).

I also have to watch for more predators as I am placing in the outdoors chirping little tasty nuggets.

You also have to work on the broody hen's schedule, so setting expensive, purchased, breeder eggs can be tricky. For those, sometimes you simply have to use artificial incubators and brooders or buy at the feed store.

Feed store chicks often don't foster well, so when you see a chick you want at the store, it has been conditioned to seek warmth from the heat lamp. Feed store chicks will often fear the hen, and don't see her as comfort. (The brooding hen actually will talk and cluck to her chicks while they are in the shell. The bonding begins before hatch.)

So if you need to hatch/brood chicks on your time frame or need large quantities, artificial incubation and hatching are essential. A whole industry is built around that.

But if you are a small holder who simply enjoys chickens as a hobby or wish to have a sustainable life style for your family, brooding hens are an excellent means to provide that.

My experiences,
LofMc

The photos on my member page
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/lady-of-mccamleys-member-page.53374/

Hello,

Great story!
I am sorry to hear about your first flock,
that must have been tragic.

Yes, it is amazing to watch a broody hen talk to her chicks,
pure amazing!

Thanks for responding!
-The Angry Hen

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I prefer good pool Brody hens for the simple fact that is easy. I don't oppose incubation and certainly understand its advantages. ....volume of eggs, availability at will vs. waiting/hoping a broody is available at the time you wish to hatch, etc. To me, both have their place.