Topic of the Week - Broody vs Incubator

[Alexandra Runner]

Broody, every time is easier. My beautiful Olive egger, Lilly, has hatched 100% of the eggs I've given her without fail and she raises them like a champ. That being said, with my 'bator, I can control it - when it hatches, haha! Lilly is her own bird, I can't ask her to go broody! (Well, I can, she just won't listen.)

 

[MamaPoult]

I'm sure they both have pros and cons but no matter what, natural is always best.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

I personally prefer broodies...

Pros
You don't need to buy medicated feed
they build up the chicks immunity
you wont need to worry about humidity/temp/power outages

Cons
You can get a bad broodies
less hatching options
one less layer even though it is making more layers

 

[skeeeter]

Hi! I've had bad experiences and great experiences with both Broodyhens and incubators. Things like power outages really spoil incubator plans, even if yours is a great one. Giving first time broodies eggs too soon also is a giant risk.

I have had great results with the brazilian incubator we now have, its designed like a toaster over .

I have had some great broodies, too. These girls would allow you to make nests for them and put them anywhere you wanted to.

My "best" broody nest is a plastic milk crate.. the one like a cage. Set up the nest in there, put in some infertile eggs and place the broody. Cover with a board. You can rotate out the eggs to keep them fresh enough to eat as you give her a week to get settled. Now, three or four routes are possible if she "sticks". (Note: you are turning her out each afternoon to eat and primp AFTER all the other hens are out of the coop. Also, you must stand guard nearby to avoid hiccoughs. Unless you are setting her where other hens or animals have no access to her nest.)

First option: After a week of firm setting, give her some fertile eggs. Most small hens can set 5 normal sized eggs.

Second option: After a week of firm setting, give her some eggs and set balance of eggs in the incubator. Remember: Normal sized hens can brood 25 chicks , or more in warm weather/or with brooder heat help.

Third option: After a week of firm setting, give her some eggs, send off for hatchery chicks to make up the balance. (Be sure to get the hatching dates correlated nearly exactly. You want to be able to add those chicks BEFORE she leaves the nest. I like them to arrive ON hatching day.)

Fourth option: Keep swapping out the store eggs.. about every three days. Order your chicks to arrive between two and three weeks after you have set her. Swap the eggs for chicks under her at night when they arrive.

I sometimes have to move Mrs. Broody and her chix from the coop to a grow shelter(there are low roosts in there, too) but they all get turned out with the flock in the afternoons after two weeks. Momma takes them back to their shelter to sleep. When they are Two months old I remove her back to the coop. She screams a couple of times at her husband(who doesn't?) then settles back into normal chicken life and starts to lay again soon.
Hope this helps somebody.

 

[skeeeter]

(toaster over) I meant toaster oven.

 

[Australorpfamily]

Having bought day old chicks and having a friendly broody hatch... Incubator.

Reasons: while our broody Mama let me mess with her, check eggs, check chicks, all around be involved, as the chicks grew up they got less handling from me and therefore became more feral lol like seriously, they bolted when we'd even walk by the run. (And first hatch was 4 roos out of 6... so yeah lol)

That said, incubator, as I haven't done it yet (want to) but day old chicks, they seem friendlier towards us. Come to hand feed, generally "like" us lol

but I must say there is a certain charm and cuteness to a broody with chicks. And she can raise them outside lol

 

[WoDia]

For my Seramas especially, I prefer to have the broody take care of the entire process. My girls are very good at it… even the young ones. But, I always have an incubator fired up and waiting close to hatch day.

 

[Chive]

I prefer broodies. Natural is normally better.
The bigger problem is you only ever have so many broodies and they can only hatch so many eggs, so if you want to hatch a bigger amount of eggs you have to use an incubator. Thankfully the batches of eggs that I have hatched in the incubator lived through the several power outages. But others aren’t as lucky. They both have their ups and downs.

I had a broody hatch out some ducklings along with 2 chicks yesterday.

 

[CoopBoots]

A good broody is worth her weight in gold, provided you plan to reproduce. I don't worry about anything aside from her health and helping her get hatchlings up and down my modest coop ladder the first week. (Not having to "integrate/introduce" new chickens is probably the single best bonus to this method, imo.)

Now, actually getting a broody hasn't been easy. I got a breed reputed for broodiness (hatchery Buff Orpingtons), and out of 9 hens, ONE goes broody regularly. Another went broody once and never again, and we're in year three! I currently have around 40 hens and only one other has unexpectedly gone broody and successfully hatched.

Currently having my habitual broody raise her own babies in hopes of furthering those genes and behaviors... I need several of her to keep a renewable flock.

 

[Siana]

This year I managed - twice already and I am working on the third time - to synchronize my incubator and a hen, so that to give her the chicks from the incubator. Of course this only works because I have a small NR360; when I start using my larger one, it won't be possible. But at least this year I felt blessed, having given all chicks to the hens. The cream one in the photo had raised 21, all strong and sturdy. Now another one has 16, and I am waiting for the third one to hatch her eggs and hopefully accept the incubated chicks. I know this approach has risks but worked so far.