Which is Better? Father knows best

[fasbendera]

I just ordered Mille Fleur eggs. I have a broody hen or y sister has a incubator with a timer the whole works. Which is better?
Ordered eggs last Sunday and we got them yesterday 8/8. Took my broody hen up to parents and dad put all seven eggs under Twilight. Oh eggs from my pet chicken came intact, packaged very well.

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

depends. in theory i'd say the hen but some hens are better mums than others...some of them wander off for too long, stomp on eggs, abandon them during incubation, but those are the exceptions.

incubation is better if you want to keep the hen laying or if you want the chicks to be more human friendly...raised by a broody they'll be more "wild".

also if you're new to incubating you may get a better hatch rate from the broody until you get the hang of things.

up to you really.

 

[Emilys3guppies]

Has your broody raised a family before successfully? If you know she's a good mama then I'd go for that route. Otherwise, incubating your own is a fun project!!

 

[Judy]

If the hen is broody, she's not laying anyway. And it is best to deal with broodiness. Simplest solution is to give her some eggs. If you let her stay broody and she has no babies, she could stay broody for months, which can be a serious threat to her health, even fatal at times. If you incubate the eggs, you need to get a wire cage and break the broodiness -- which usually works, but evidently, not always.

Chicks are sometimes less tame when raised by a broody, but I have not had this problem, as the broody is a pet and does not fight me with the chicks, so I can handle them all I want. They are BO chicks, anyway, which are usually easy to tame.

I have read several times that chicks raised by a hen are healthier. They acquire mama's gut flora and immunities from the flock. It also avoids the problem of integration; just let her raise her chicks with the flock.

If your goal is a strong, healthy flock, give the broody the eggs. JMO, of course.

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

yeah i wasn't clear, if you incubate then you'll have to break the broodiness which gives you another problem to deal with.

but as for mum raising them with the rest of the flock, there is the possibility of other hens getting to the babies and killing them unless you have somewhere you can keep mum and babies separate for some time (and i don't know how long is generally considered best). just another possibility to bear in mind.

 

[jvls1942]

If your chicken is seasoned, let her do it.. If she has never hatched an egg before, let her try, but keep the bator in reserve in case she quits the nest.. some hens do that.

I have a BO that quit the nest so many times that I will not give her another egg.. she is rare for a BO.

 

[aqhaktberry3]

What does broody and broodiness mean? ( Sorry if this is a stupid question. I'm new at this)

 

[fasbendera]

When the hen wants to sit and hatch eggs. I have three at the moment that sit on any egg that is left in the nest box. They don't leave the boxes eggs or not. I just keep tossing them outside and eventually they give up. Broody hens if I am not mistaken don't lay but I could be wrong.