who else thinks that a chick hatched under a broody is so much smarter

[lcw1995]

than one that was hatched in an incubator.
i had chicks in the brooder hatched from a bator and ive had chicks hatched by a broodie hen.
in my opinion i find that a broody raised chick is able to survive alot better then a bator chick.
is it there mom that teaches a broody chick to be this way by watching her, i dont know.
but to me it just seems broody raised chicks are much more adept to being able to survive outside compared to bator chicks.

 

[midget_farms]

to be completely honest - I don't think either are very bright. I figure they are hatched with all they will ever have.

 

[BlackBart]

I think they are smarter.

 

[Illia]

I don't think it is smarter, but I do think it has the chance to be a hardier chick.

If you think of it, a chick hatched under a broody only needs the hen's warm protection every now and then. Otherwise, one will run around even in the frosty cold of winter, and still be fine. Plus, a chick under a broody does not rely so much on chick feed, but more on what the mothering hen shows it. The hen shows it how to survive off of bare minimum quite well too.

A chick in an incubator is automatically put into complete warmth and given food automatically. It is like the "city kid" - No knowledge of the cold world outside, no knowledge yet on how to forage for other things, and no need to go searching for food or water. If put out in the cold world, it would be confused, cold, hungry, and likely die early.


I've had a broody hen raise six chicks by herself, I only gave them a handful of chick feed once a day for their first week or so, then they began to learn how to eat and survive on their own, free ranging and sleeping out in our large property. Not a single one died or got taken by a predator, and not a single one became underweight or stunted in growth. In fact, they're of laying age now, and believe it or not, this photo is of a hen that only eats what she can!

That being said, no, I would not recommend doing such. Without the proper yard and with unpredictable winters, and especially if you had more chickens than just a few, you could starve and kill them. But, as a beginning for the chick, it is a great start. All my chickens except the photographed hen and her sisters are given feed and water daily, but even they I'd prefer to have raised under a broody, then get fed normal feed and water like any other hen/rooster.

The only reason I don't offer these few hens constant food and water is because they choose to run around loose, out of the access of food/water. They still do get it, but they find it on their own.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

They may be more survival-savvy but they are not friendlier to humans. There is a definite difference between those hand reared and those broody reared in their adaptability to humanity.
Personally, although it's a real pain, I prefer the final product to be handraised.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Supposing that some kind of wisdom is passed down from Hen to chick, where did the Hen get that wisdom? In order to continually pass on wisdom that only a broody hatched chick would know, wouldn't logically follow that the line of generational succession could never be broken? In other words, if the great grandmother of that broody Hen was herself a brooder raised chick, what does this do to this theory?

 

[Tala]

Some chicks just seem "smarter" to me, or at least, more curious so they learn faster that way. I had a couple in the brooder and they slept a lot, and well, just didn't act very chick like. The next hatch I had 5 in the brooder and they about drove me crazy with their antics! Not sure if it was because there was less of them in the first batch, or if they were just lazy by nature

I put them all outside in chicken tractors quite early, about 3 weeks old. They are all quite hardy that way, though I've never had a successful broody to compare to. They have their lamp to get warm under (like a mama) but they run around outside in the run area for a while without it just like broody chicks do.
I really don't consider them "hand" raised. They all become rather friendly to me once they hit laying, and I'm happy that way. I visit them every day and love to watch them, but I still want them to behave like chickens should.

 

[Illia]

they'reHISchickens :

They may be more survival-savvy but they are not friendlier to humans. There is a definite difference between those hand reared and those broody reared in their adaptability to humanity.
Personally, although it's a real pain, I prefer the final product to be handraised.

That's a completely different variable added in though.

You can choose to let your broody and her chicks go on their own path, or you can choose to have a friendly, well handled broody hen who accepts of you to also handle her chicks, and it will still turn out just as fine as hatching them yourself.​

 

[pascopol]

they'reHISchickens :

They may be more survival-savvy but they are not friendlier to humans. There is a definite difference between those hand reared and those broody reared in their adaptability to humanity.
Personally, although it's a real pain, I prefer the final product to be handraised.

Agreed, chicks raised by broody will never be as tame and friendly as handraised.

Peronally I do not care, but if you want your chickens to have "personality" ( I call it disposition since they are not persons) and "love" you ( I call it tame) you need to handraise them.​

 

[BorderKelpie]

I read somewhere that broody raised chicks were less likely to carry salmonella since the 'friendly' bacteria shedding off Mama hen cultivates on the chicks and leaves no room for the 'bad' bacteria strains. It makes sense to me.
I wonder if the broody raised chicks are 'smarter' since perhaps their immune systems are not as challenged as hand raised chicks. They are able to flourish without that first strike against them.

Nature knows what she's doing - we fake it as best we can.