PoultryTalk.com

So which are your views on which is best, the natural mother broody or to use an incubator?

Tell us here and discuss!

for large game you cant beat broodys i dont think,they dont seem to thrive the same without one

In my experience of having broodies they do a better job than the incubator hands down, its nature nothing man made can possibly better it. No fuss about humidity, sticky shells, splayed legs etc and the chicks seem to bounce out of the shells and are as strong as oxes whereas chicks from the incubator tend to take a little longer to steady and strengthen. In the end they do catch up with no ntoicable differences though.
But then there are the con's of the broodie, some don't sit tight and leave half way through, some eat the eggs or even kill chicks but this is quite rare. Also you are limited to how many eggs you set to only a few depending on egg size and the size of the broodie, and once those chicks have hatched you can't just load the broodie back up again as she will need rest.
The pro's of the incubator are that it unless there is a power cut or electrical fault doe's not stop or give up. You can easily check the progress of eggs development without being attacked by a nasty hen! Also, large inubators can hold many many times more eggs than a hen could sit on. Plus when the chicks hatch you just clean it out and put some more in! Or if youre organised you can load on a weekly basis and hatch your chicks weekly, which is not possible with a broodie.

But personally I do prefer nature, but in reality I hardly ever use it and opt for incubators as they suit our situation better.

Julia

I pretty much agree with the above post. I find it much more relaxing to to a broody hatch but have done lots more incy hatches. I started hatching in January and would be concerned about keeping a broody warm enough at this time of year.

If you only want to hatch a few birds per year broody is the way to go. Incy hatched chicks are slower to feather up which means a lot of special housing if hatching from January. My broody hatched chicks were in with the main flock (with mum still looking after them) at 8 weeks old last summer.

I try to let the girls do the job, but sometimes you just have to use an incubator and then I'm worse than a broody hen and it's much more work raising them than if you let the mums do it.

i totally agree i have around 20 hybrids but it allways seems to be the smallest who goes broody limiting the number of eggs i can put under her. there is at least no hassle with broodies they just sit tight and do theyre thing! as long as they have water and food close at hand then you can expect a decent hatch! i usually get about 80 % hatch rate! not bad for a newbie!

Always use an incubator and electric hen - chicks are off heat by 3 weeks and running about in their pens with no probs have seen broodies give up, eat chicks, squash them etc. Also need a lot more room for broody to sit with eggs and then look after her brood. Also so many people have issues with the hen while she is broody - not eating properly losing wieght etc. If I have a dotte that I cant perswade not to sit then I will give her eggs out of the incubator instead of going into the hatcher. And then she was only sitting for 3 days. Bear in mind it depends on what breed you have dottes and silkies are know to be the best but becasue they sit so tight they sometimes forget to get off! Red x