We keep a few hens, we have 11 at present plus a cockerel, we are getting 6-8 eggs a day which is quite good, we sell what we don't eat to friends & family, and that just about pays for a bag of feed every month, but hens get old and need replacing.
Of our 11 hens there are two real oldies that are probably not laying but I am not one to cull, I am quite happy for them to enjoy the rest of their lives with us, we also have 3 or 4 that will be oldies next year, and we have 5 youngsters who were hatched out last year.
To keep the supply of eggs coming we do need to add new hens and that is where the incubator comes in. Another disaster for us this year, a crow has been nipping in to the workshop and eating the cats food, and on day one of the incubation the crow had a go at getting to the eggs and smashed them and did its best to break the incubator.
The incubator is fine albeit very messy with eggs inside the workings and as it is an old incubator I am not sure it will be re-usable. The good folk at Brinsea have sent me instructions on how to take it apart and put it back together again, so another chore added to the list of things to do.
Thanks to nature though, we did have a hen go broody, and she is much better at the job than I am, and we have 3 very healthy baby chooks running around in their little pen.
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