[Heather]

I can't help thinking it must be much better for chicks to be raised by an adult hen, rather than in an incubator.  From day one they learn and experience so much, don't they?  Why are incubators so popular with smallholders? I may be being a bit naive here, but keeping a crowd of baby chicks in a shed with no adult care seems like chick-abuse to me!
 

[jameslindsay]

Heather I have hatched and raised may ducks and hens in the incubator and I am offended at this practice being thought of as "abusive". On my part everything I hatched was allowed access outside from only a few days old (weather permitting) and they all enjoyed the contact they had with me. They all developed perfectly well and went outside and joined my other ducks/hens and lived a very happy life with no difficulties; they have their instincts from the second they hatch and these instincts push them on.

Why do we do it? Not every small holder gets a hen/duck etc that goes broody so the incubator then comes in to effect. I have only ever brought an animal in to this world that I knew I will look after and they in return would enjoy a very happy and spoilt life.

[Heather]

oops, sorry James.  But don't they learn from the hen?  I currently have 12 chicks aged 2/3wks old and it's great watching them outside with 'mum'.  They climb on and under the hen and she feeds them delicacies found in the grass.  They dust bath with her.  I think what I meant was 'deprived' in the sense of missing-out on the joys of being 'brought up' by the hen.
Am interested in the opinions of more experinced chicken-folk.

[gem]

i prefer to rear my chicks under a broody where possible and im breeding my own hardy strain of broodys just for sitting on eggs from a very hardy polish frizzle cockeral and silkie x pullet (possibly ko-shamoxsilkie)

and another strain im in the process of developing is based on leghorn but with sumatra, frisian and various other breeds to creat a handsome ornamental free range layer that also goes broody

the reason i prefer to rear my chicks under a broody instead of an incubator is that i prefer my fowl to not be imprinted on people and to be more wary and part wild

incubators and brooders are also costly enough to run.

[little blue]

Having had warrens for years and no sign of broodiness, we got an incubator ...

I now have approx 20 hens, and 20 quail all incy raised ,who behave perfectly naturally (if not more so than the ex-battery farmed warrens)   Its natural instinct to dust bath, scratch for worms etc.  
They are also slightly tamer, so its less stressful to e.g. clean them out, administer wormer or whatever.  But they are not overly tame either.
Some are positively wild! 

(We also hatched a number of cockerels who are but a memory, and a batch of quail who became ill & many died.)

This year, two of those hens have gone broody - one is in an "all girls" shed, so I ignore it and shift her, the other is currently sitting on about 8 eggs.
I'll let you know how she gets on....

I'd also like to have more ducks, and none of them show any sign of brooding.
Some of the hens are rare breeds, its a way of improving numbers & stock without the chance of mother nature killing them off, eg by cold or predators when they're small.

I'm kind of "on the fence" - If we'd have had broodies sooner, I may not have bought the incy, but then we wouldnt have the stock we have now.
It may not be "natural" (which I would prefer) but in suits certain circumstances.

[Womble]

We recently bought ten one-day old turkey chicks from CSSA. I put six under a an 'electric hen' brooder in a shed, and four under a broody pea-hen whose own eggs unfortunately didn't hatch this year.

All I can say is that two of the "professionally reared" chicks have since died. One got stuck in a horse's hoof hole after only a week, and was too small / weak to get out. The second died a couple of weeks ago after a few days of heavy rain. Mum kept dragging them round the fields in head-high wet grass, and I'm afraid it took its toll  .  

In contrast, the indoor-reared chicks are all doing well, and are about twice the size of the outdoor ones now. This is despite the same food etc being available to both.

So, is it a more natural upbringing being reared by a broody? - almost certainly yes.
Is it without its pitfalls? - from my recent experience, absolutely not!!

[Fleecewife]

As with so many things, it's 'horses for courses'.  In some situations allowing a hen to incubate her own eggs, or to put bought eggs or chicks under her works well, sometimes it doesn't.  Our Scots Greys rear their own to great effect - they certainly wouldn't let their chicks get wet or lost as they are wonderful mothers, although they only raise one brood a year.  I did try to raise some bought eggs under a SG but she wasn't having any of it    No way would she sit on those great big imposter eggs.  I don't have an incubator and when I want different pure breeds I buy them in ready sexed, but if someone gave me one for Christmas I would give it a go  One drawback is cost and of course it's not just the incubator you have to buy but a heat lamp and somewhere for the chicks to keep warm.  Life is very simple when a hen raises her own eggs and they certainly get an excellent start in life.  Our current brood is of 12 two-month-old SGs (mostly cockerels  ), none lost so far and the mother has just taken herself back with her chums and left them to it - they are quite old enough to manage now 

[jameslindsay]

oops, sorry James.  But don't they learn from the hen?  I currently have 12 chicks aged 2/3wks old and it's great watching them outside with 'mum'.  They climb on and under the hen and she feeds them delicacies found in the grass.  They dust bath with her.  I think what I meant was 'deprived' in the sense of missing-out on the joys of being 'brought up' by the hen.
Am interested in the opinions of more experinced chicken-folk.

I honestly have not witnessed any difference in behavior between any chicks I have hatched using the incubator to those hatched by a mother. It is a beautiful sight to watch the young play and learn from their mother but it  is also an amazing experience raising yourself. As I said I put my youngsters outside as early as possible for a short time and increase the length of time each day. I always sat their enclosure in beside either the ducks or the hens so they could all see each other and do some bonding. Of course when outside their natural instincts kick in and they go scratching etc on their own. Get yourself an incubator and give it a try.

[jaykay]

I use an incubator cos it's more reliable. Broodies give up half way through at times and some breeds just don't go broody very effectively. All my incubator-reared little'uns seem to pick up natural behaviour quite well - part instinct, part copying the other adults around. A broody is easier when she's good and to see them 'out with mum' is lovely. It's just not always possible.

[Cobra]

Well heres my pennies worth.

The best way is a broody, when done at a suitable time of the year: It's a case of having the right breed for the job, simple fact is, as commercial and domestic breeds have evolved the natural state of Broodiness and mothering has been bred out of them, hence certain breeds will either not go broody or not stay the course. One of the main issues with broodies, is having hatching eggs available when your hen is broody. Young that venture outside earlier, with or without mum, will feather quicker and be more hardy, I honestly believe that.

But you also have to concider, that the young are out and about and more susceptible to harm from rats for example and that whilst a hen is broody, unless isolated the rest will almost certainly follow suit and egg production is lost. There's nothing wrong with incubators or there use, they are a first class alternative. They give protection beyond that of a mother hen, given the proper care and attention by the breeder. They have a wonderful environment and happy as larry.

Whats really going to boil your swede is this question:   (Today I have new chicks from my broody, so very relevant)  

When your chicks hatch using broodies. Do you Remove chicks to a safe place, lamp etc, far from them damn rats   or Do you leave them with mum, after all shes done the Patience bit and sat on them for you and shes a damn fine mum. But which is best?

[DJ_Chook]

Incubator chicks then raised with lots of human contact might not turn into flighty hens. I raise more using the incubator/by hand than I do using a broody hen. They are flighty little horrors who dislike me unless I have food. Except for one who knows where the catfood is, she was broody reared and she's loves me, because I feed the cat.

As to learning 'how to be a chicken' I've not noticed any difference. I've got 11day old chicks in the brooder and yesterday I saw them having a dustbath, sunbathing under the electric hen & arguing as they start to sort out their pecking order. It comes naturally.

DJ

[goosepimple]

Hi Heather, I once used an incubator to hatch some White Campbell ducklings - only 2 of the 6 hatched and we subsequently successfully raised them to adulthood.  I quite frequently felt that when they were wee though that they wanted a mum - we did all the usual heat lamp stuff etc - I even put in a  hot water bottle so they had something squashy and warm to sit against which they seemed to enjoy a lot, but they always cheaped really loudly whenever I went out of the room and seemed to love the company and attention which I think they would have got from a duck mum full time.  I actually felt quite guilty I couldn't have them with me all the time. so I know what you mean, it didn't feel right.  I decided I wouldn't use one again but after having our 2 goslings die this year I think I would use it for the geese next year as back up - leaving most of the eggs with the goose but pinching a few for the incubator just in case.  Where there's a will ....

[Fleecewife]

We recently bought 4 well-handled incubator raised POL hens.  They are very friendly - too friendly for our set up    They seem imprinted on humans and want to follow us all the time, not even wanting to roost when the rest have gone into their houses, but waiting for us to tell them what to do. Our poultry are all totally free range during the day, independant and sensible and we certainly don't need 4 young hens following us around as we work, endearing though it is.  As a contrast, our 8 or 9 week old chicks are now completely independant, out foraging together but without their mother now.   So whereas having hens which are easily handled is a boon, having them imprinted on humans is not necessarily so - horses for courses as I said before.  Some will love such friendly hens, others won't.