Where Do You Stand With Incubation?

[xcalibor67]

Nothing wrong with a broody hen..it just doesnt fit my needs/wants. My chickens are egg layers, and thats what i want them to keep doing. No time for broody hens. I also like the part where me and my (Grown) kids can do things together, like incubation. In todays chickens, broodiness has all but been bred out of most breeds. The hen might decide she doesnt really want to hatch your eggs...it isnt like you can talk it out eh?>. Incubators are more consistant for the most part, and like i said, its fun for the family.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I have recently replied to this thread but have had some revelations since my contribution was published.
Currently in the wake of a disastrous batch after much success in both recent and distant past.
Remember the TV commercial years ago with the mother nature tasting margarine thinking it was butter and saying the infamous statement.. " IT'S NOT NICE, TO FOOL MOTHER NATURE! ".
Incubation of eggs is sort of cheating death and mother nature in a way. But I am great full that the success we have achieved was obtained without to many curve balls. Can't expect perfection with playing with laws of nature and tweaking our skills and knowledge of things in and out of our control.
Still humble being allowed to tinker with fragile life creations without taking it for granted.

 

[3riverschick]

I can use either. I like incubators. Own ,
2 of them. Don't candle eggs or necropsy eggs which don't hatch.
Do open incubator judicously during last three days if needed.
Raise all chicks on 1/2 teaspoon of Poultry Nutridrench in a quart waterer.
For the first 2 weeks of life. I consider this an extension of incubation and inseparable from it in successful development of the chick.
Really the chick is so immature at birth I consider the 1st 7 days post hatch a vital supplementary period to the incubation process. A view supported by massive research in the world wide poultry industry.
Best,
Karen

 

[FarmerJackie]

I forgot to mention why I have been favoring incubation techniques.

Incubating chicken eggs was the olive branch between myself and my step daughter.
It has been rough getting the children to even acknowledge my existence. Now they are happy to see me.
One day she talked about how much she wanted Seramas. I got eggs shipped immediately and told her I got them for her. She was excited about weighing the eggs, setting them, charting growth rates and the successful hatches.

She gets excited to talk about our babies we hatched. I am forever grateful.

 

[Birdinhand]

wow, what a sweet story!

I forgot to mention why I have been favoring incubation techniques.

Incubating chicken eggs was the olive branch between myself and my step daughter.
It has been rough getting the children to even acknowledge my existence. Now they are happy to see me.
One day she talked about how much she wanted Seramas. I got eggs shipped immediately and told her I got them for her. She was excited about weighing the eggs, setting them, charting growth rates and the successful hatches.

She gets excited to talk about our babies we hatched. I am forever grateful.

 

[animalspooker]

A broody hen is by far better IMHO. But you don't always have that option, and when you don't, an incubator served that purpose well. IMO, broody hens know what temp to keep their nests/eggs, know when and how often to roll them, know when to stop rolling them, and then take care of and raise them. No matter how hands on you are, you'll never be as good a mom to an incubated chick as a broody hen will be to hers.

 

[sassysarah]

I would trust a broody hen before a incubator

 

[lastco]

I do both. Pretty much all of my reasons have already been covered in previous posts. I would love to utilize broodies more, but the timing doesn't always work out. I haven't noticed major differences in the health and behavior of broody raised chicks vs. incubator/brooder raised chicks, but I do ENJOY watching the hens raise their babies more than raising them myself. Most chicks become insane when they're teenagers, no matter what, with the exception of my Bielefelders. Lol.

Not to stray from the topic but I have definitely noted differences in chicks raised under a lamp vs. chicks raised under warming plates. It's the next best thing to a hen from my experience, when artificially incubating and raising chicks in a brooder.

I keep several breeds. It's not always ideal for the layers to go broody. I prefer to let my silkies hatch and raise babies if the timing works out. My silkies seem to tolerate broodiness better than my other breeds. The hens take care of themselves better. They look healthier, lose less weight, etc., all while doing a great job hatching and mothering.

This adds another element to the mix when considering broodiness as a desirable trait. I don't think the instinct to set is enough on its own. A hen's dedication to her eggs is vital, but not if she kills herself in the process. I want hens that will care for themselves and their babies with minimal intervention. If I have to make them eat and drink everyday, then I just as well incubate the eggs myself.

 

[SoCalClucker]

This is such an interesting post! I've raised lots of chicks (and turkey poults) from day-olds, but never hatched any eggs before. Broody is currently sitting on shipped fertile eggs, day 18!

 

[GitaBooks]

I love my broody hens, I prefer them over an incubator as the chicks are so much happier and naturally integrate into the flock. But I will say they are a LOT of work. I've had eggs broken, eggs soiled, eaten, chicks killed by the mother hen, chicks go cold, chicks suffocate, chicks strangled, chicks abandoned, chicks eaten by other hens, and other issues. It is very stressful, but again, you don't have to worry about them being warm (after the first day or so that is, once I know the hen is a good momma), taught to eat or drink, taught how to behave, and taught how and where to perch. Mother-raised roosters tend to be less aggressive.

I use the incubator to hatch eggs abandoned or damaged while under hens or eggs that need a few extra days because they are hatching late and the Mom and chicks need moved (so the babies don't get killed by other hens or predators).

I've had Red Stars, Leghorns, and Sebrights go broody and some of my silkie mixes haven't gone broody, so it kind of depends I guess on the individual hen and the situation. Some years they all want to go broody, sometimes multiple times a year, and other times only a few go for it and some break-up.