How long chicks hatch

In general, a broody prefers a dark, private, comfortable location in which to set. Her chosen spot can range from a nest box inside the coop to a hidden location away from the coop. The sweetest hen in a flock is barely recognizable when she is broody. When she is approached, she growls, shrieks, puffs out her feathers and pecks at the intruder, trying to be as intimidating as possible in defense of her eggs.

She sits in the nest all day and night, leaving it briefly once or twice a day to eat, drink and relieve herself. Broody poop is distinctive, ginormous and the most foul smelling deposit possible. Just because a hen is broody does not mean that she is going to be a successful or dedicated hatching hen. Some abandon the eggs after a number of days or weeks, or worse- they kill the chicks that hatch.

Unfortunately, the only way to know whether a hen will be a good mother is by being a good mother. There is no test or method for predicting whether a hen will quit setting before the eggs hatch or become homicidal until it happens.

Before purchasing expensive hatching eggs for a broody to hatch, it is wise to put her through the paces with ordinary hatching eggs. I have learned the hard way never to give an unreliable broody a second chance. If she abandoned the nest or harmed chicks once, she will do it again. Past performance is the best predictor of future behavior.

Have a back-up plan in anticipation of a quitter even with the less valuable eggs. Keeping an incubator on-hand in the event a broody abandons the eggs can be life-saving. If there are no fertile eggs available or the broody sits on an empty nest, broodiness can continue long beyond three weeks, resulting in negative health consequences for her and problems for other hens.

A broody eats, drinks and eliminates waste once or twice a day at most. Over time, her comb becomes pale, her feathers lose sheen and she loses a noticeable amount of weight. This drastic change normal routine is tolerable in 21 day stints but protracted stints are unhealthy for her.

This article addresses how to break up a broody hen. Either a hen is broody or she is not- one cannot make a hen broody. However, a hen that is already in the mood to brood may be encouraged to set if she sees a nest full of eggs or another hen brooding as the state seems to be contagious.

Serious breeders have dedicated coops or broody pens for the purpose of housing broodies. A broody does not need much to do her thing: a dark, cozy spot for the eggs, a food and water station and a location in which to relieve herself. After three weeks, the chicks should hatch and she will keep them warm, show them where the food and water is and protect them from intruders.

The bottom of the nest should be soft so to protect the eggs. The weight of the hen, the shifting of position and jostling of eggs on her way into and out of the nest for 21 days can cause eggs to crack and ultimately kill any live embryo inside. To limit the impact to the eggs, I recommend nest box pads and liners either alone or with chopped straw or shavings on top.

Scratch can also be offered to the broody hen as the high carbohydrate content will provide extra calories during her three week crash diet. Keep the food and water close to the nest to ensure that less adventurous broodies avail themselves of at least one meal a day.

Fresh, cool water is critical to the health of a broody hen and should be made available at all times. A dehydrated hen can die very quickly. A hen can manage to cover and keep warm approximately 12 eggs proportionate to her size, meaning: if she is a bantam, it is reasonable to expect that she can care for 12 bantam sized eggs, fewer if the eggs are from a larger hen. If the broody is a large fowl breed, she can handle eggs of the size she would ordinarily lay, more if they are bantam eggs. Much more about acquisition of and handling of the hatching eggs, here.

Some broodies are more attached to their chosen location than others and will protest mightily while trying to return to it if moved. Moving a broody hen is best done at night when she is less likely to be upset by the change of scenery. The feed, water and makeshift run should be in place before the move is made. The egg candler used in the photo below is a Brinsea Ovascope. Candling eggs should be done after dark if at all, so as to limit the stress to the broody.

When I candle broody eggs, I do it twice at most, at day 10 and By day 10 any egg that has not begun to develop will be obvious and should be removed. After day 18 the embryo begins to assume the hatching position and should no longer be moved, so I like to candle on day 17 at the latest. The photo below shows what an embryo three days away from hatching looks like from the inside left and when candling from the outside right.

I will normally stop incubating on day Especially with backyard eggs, you will probably seem some variability in when your eggs will hatch. I would expect eggs from large hatcheries to hatch in a narrower time window, closer to the ideal of 21 days. This is because, in order to be efficient, large hatcheries need a narrow hatch window. They need their eggs to hatch on a single day, maybe within a 12 hour period, so they can ship the chicks.

Effectively, large hatcheries are thus selectively breeding for a narrow hatch window. Offspring that are slow to hatch will not become breeders if the hatchery is hatching their own replacement stock.

Over time, I would expect that selecting for a narrow hatch window would tend to produce chicks that hatch more closely to the day ideal. A broody hen one that is in the mood to set on eggs can save you a lot of work, and I think the chicks raised by her are smarter and better able to take care of themselves.

I have passion of chickens since I start selling them whilst I was young helping my father, so I want know what kind of eggs are needed to start business of hachery by my own , and any required information on this regards will highly be appreciated. Will the survive? The Million Gardens Movement doesn't just help you grow a garden, we're also bringing gardens to kids across the country — and you can help.

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Animals , How-To , Plants. By Brian Barth on April 9, Brian Barth. No matter how fancy or jerry-rigged, all incubators must accomplish a few basic things: Temperature: The eggs need to be kept at Sign up for your Modern Farmer Weekly Newsletter. Notify of. Most Voted Newest Oldest. Inline Feedbacks. View Replies Khutso Mabeso.

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