Where Do You Stand With Incubation?

[The Angry Hen]

Hello,

Thank you for responding!
You have a very good logic! I agree!

Most of my chickens were raised from pullets.
(When I got them of course!)

I wish you the best of luck with them @dekel18042!

-The Angry Hen (K)

 

[1muttsfan]

I do prefer broodies, just because they are so much less work. But since most of my hens are non-brooding types, I usually end up in the incubator. Although right now I have both going on - Arkansas Blue eggs under a Basque broody and in my Hovabator (along with 3 AB x Welsummer eggs that happened to be laying around)

 

[The Angry Hen]

Hello,

Thank you for responding!
Yes, good idea.

I hope they hatch for you!

-The Angry Hen

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We've got very broody birds but they are not on my hatching schedule. We primarily incubate and let one or two of the broodies have eggs late spring.

 

[The Angry Hen]

That is a smart idea!
I think it is good to have both!

-The Angry Hen

Thanks for responding @Egghead_Jr!!

 

[Gavinthesheep735]

I think I agree with both

 

[The Angry Hen]

Thanks!

-The Angry Hen

 

[ZachyWachy]

I think that both have their strengths and weaknesses.
The broody: don't need to worry about eggs, just feed and water momma. Cheaper
Incubator: don't need to wait for a hen to go broody, can do it whenever you want to and won't lose it's broodiness.
I have just started hatching eggs and am doing it under some hens that got broody. It is amazing to watch the mom and children interact.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Hello,

Thanks for the response!
Good observation!

-The Angry Hen (K)

 

[MageofMist]

I use a mix of brooding and incubating. If I want chicks and no-one is broody, I incubate them. If a quail or hen goes broody, they incubate them and care for the buggers that hatch.

The incubator also comes in handy for when one's broody hen leaves the nest when the eggs are pipped or when a broody isn't interested in the hatching chicks. In my first batch of silkie chicks, mama hen pecked at the chicks that hatched, and there were eggs having humidity issues too and needed assistance, so I plopped the rest of the eggs in the incubator and raised the chicks that I assisted and hatched, they are all 3 months old now.

Second batch the hen left the nest for a break after some pipped, so I put the eggs in the incubator. I didn't need to assist much, just trim off a little dry membrane and show a chick that pipped in the middle of the egg where the air sac was. I gave the hatched chicks back to her to see how she'd react, and she took them in and after supervising her with them, let her keep them.