Hatching chicks

[HJMimi]

I have 2 RIR hens and 1 rooster. One of the hens laid her first hard shelled egg this morning. I have been told by a friend that the hens will not go broody until the spring. I’m trying to decide if I should get an incubator to hatch some eggs now, wait and see if they will sit on them now and hatch some, or wait until spring to try then. Any advice or personal experience appreciated.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Do all three.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

I would say it depends on the hen. I had a pullet that went broody in November. But some of my hens have never gone broody and I doubt they ever will.

 

[Ridgerunner]

RIR hens seldom go broody. Occasionally you hear about one that does but I consider that to be an exception. I would not count on it
but would get an incubator. I would not expect a pullet that has just started laying to go broody for a long time if it ever does.

It is a fairly complicated process for a hen or pullet to put an egg together. It is pretty common for them to get something wrong when they are first starting out. That's not just the stuff you see but stuff you cannot see that still has to be correct for the egg to hatch. A lot of pullets do get it right from the start but many don't.

There is another issue. When they first start laying the eggs are often pretty small compared to how large they will be. There is not enough room in the egg or enough egg material to grow a strong healthy chick. As they lay the eggs tend to get bigger.

I've hatched some small pullet eggs. Some of them do fine. But my hatch rate with them is often not great. If a chick hatches it usually lives and does well. But if I have a chick die pretty young it almost always hatched out of a small pullet egg.

My suggestion is to wait until that pullet has been laying a month before you hatch any of her eggs. I think you will see a better hatch rate and the chick's survivability will be better.

 

[HJMimi]

RIR hens seldom go broody. Occasionally you hear about one that does but I consider that to be an exception. I would not count on it
but would get an incubator. I would not expect a pullet that has just started laying to go broody for a long time if it ever does.

It is a fairly complicated process for a hen or pullet to put an egg together. It is pretty common for them to get something wrong when they are first starting out. That's not just the stuff you see but stuff you cannot see that still has to be correct for the egg to hatch. A lot of pullets do get it right from the start but many don't.

There is another issue. When they first start laying the eggs are often pretty small compared to how large they will be. There is not enough room in the egg or enough egg material to grow a strong healthy chick. As they lay the eggs tend to get bigger.

I've hatched some small pullet eggs. Some of them do fine. But my hatch rate with them is often not great. If a chick hatches it usually lives and does well. But if I have a chick die pretty young it almost always hatched out of a small pullet egg.

My suggestion is to wait until that pullet has been laying a month before you hatch any of her eggs. I think you will see a better hatch rate and the chick's survivability will be better.

Thank you so much for this information. This is my first time with chickens. I am in love with them and fascinated at the same time. Do you think an incubator is the best route? Do you think it would be better to try to put some in an incubator in about a month or wait until the spring. I live in South Alabama. Do you think the attached would be a good incubator?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you think an incubator is the best route?

With an incubator you control when or even if you can hatch eggs. If you rely in a broody hen you never know when or even if she will ever go broody. My preference is to use a broody hen but I also use an incubator to get chicks when I want them. With two RIR pullets I think you would be greatly disappointed to depend on broody hens.

To say that another way and to be perfectly clear. Get the incubator.

Do you think it would be better to try to put some in an incubator in about a month or wait until the spring. I live in South Alabama.

Have you done the research as to what is required to brood chicks in your winter? Where would you put your brooder? You can still get some fairly cold days in South Alabama. If you can care for them you can hatch them this fall/winter. Or you can wait for better weather this spring. People do it both ways.

Do you think the attached would be a good incubator?

I am not familiar with that specific incubator. If it works as advertised it should be OK. When I started there were just a few makes/models of incubators. Now the market is flooded with them. A lot of chicks have been hatched in incubators like that but some people have problems with them. With any of them there is often a learning curve.

 

[HJMimi]

With an incubator you control when or even if you can hatch eggs. If you rely in a broody hen you never know when or even if she will ever go broody. My preference is to use a broody hen but I also use an incubator to get chicks when I want them. With two RIR pullets I think you would be greatly disappointed to depend on broody hens.

To say that another way and to be perfectly clear. Get the incubator.

Have you done the research as to what is required to brood chicks in your winter? Where would you put your brooder? You can still get some fairly cold days in South Alabama. If you can care for them you can hatch them this fall/winter. Or you can wait for better weather this spring. People do it both ways.


I am not familiar with that specific incubator. If it works as advertised it should be OK. When I started there were just a few makes/models of incubators. Now the market is flooded with them. A lot of chicks have been hatched in incubators like that but some people have problems with them. With any of them there is often a learning curve.

Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[Predoggg]

I would wait till spring before incubating any eggs. That will allow the young hen to get the egg laying process down. First egg is small and as previous response said, there are issues with small eggs.

I just had one of the hens lay her first egg and I wait till spring. Same for the Gold Deathlayers I got. They start to lay one after the next. Sometimes is it good to be patient.