How many chickens can one hen hatch

The main benefit of using a brood hen is that by allowing the hen to brood chicks, you encourage natural behavior, and chicks raised under the mother's care may be more viable or robust than hatchery chicks.

However, not all modern chicken breeds have retained a developed maternal instinct. The best brood hens are cochin hens - their desire to incubate and care for offspring is so high that they often lay other people's eggs , not only chickens, but even turkeys and geese. Next in terms of care are leggorns, orpingtons, and wyandots.

Hens usually hatch up to 12 chicks at a time and once a year. In rare cases, they have 2 broods, that is, 24 chicks per year. Remember that egg laying and brooding are two different processes, although they start out the same way. Hens will maintain stable egg production throughout the year if they don't have to hatch chicks. Once you start the incubation process, egg production drops as the hens will refrain from laying more eggs until the chicks have hatched and become independent.

The hens sit on the eggs for the 21 days it takes to hatch and then actively care for them 8 weeks after birth. After that, the chickens begin to pay less attention to the chickens, by 16 weeks they perceive the chickens as ordinary members of the adult chicken community. Thus, 16 weeks is the age of chicken majority. At 18 weeks, females will start laying eggs.

Recall that a mother hen will take good care of no more than 12 chickens, and this number should not be artificially increased, for example, to 15, since quarrels with pecking will begin between the grown chicks. It is better to stop at 10 chickens altogether and pay attention to the conditions for breeding.

Place a 45 x 45 nest box for a brood hen in a secluded, slightly shaded area with clean, soft bedding such as hay. The nest box should be large enough for the hen to comfortably sit on the eggs, but not so large that heat is wasted. The chicken coop should not be below 13 degrees, so if the eggs are hatched in early spring, it makes sense to provide additional heating for the first two weeks. The depth of the nest box will be 20 cm, including bedding, so that the eggs do not roll out when the hen turns or comes out to eat and drink. The crate should be raised off the ground to keep it dry and clean at all times.

Provide the hen with food and water as needed. As soon as the chicks start to hatch, be ready to intervene if necessary if any chick gets stuck in the shell. In the future, be sure to check the availability of food and water, as the hen and chicks will eat together.

Hens feed their chicks by showing how they peck and find food. Chicks have strong foraging instincts and don't usually need help eating unless they have a scissor beak. To solve the problem, the tip of the upper part of the beak is trimmed; in case of a successful operation, the beak grows back in an average of 6 weeks. If you are unsure of your beak repair skills, be sure to invite a veterinarian for training.