Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Don't be afraid to give Mom and babies the same feed. The babies will need a little
high-protein feed and the mom will enjoy the boost to restore her body to proper
health after her long ordeal of incubation.
Some hens, particularly young hens that haven't been moms before, will go back to
laying eggs once you move them to the isolated mothering chamber. If she sets on her
fake eggs for two or three days, replace the fakes with the eggs you want her to hatch.
Give her any eggs to hatch; it won't matter a bit if they are not hers.
Hatching
A typical hen can usually handle about a dozen eggs of the size she lays. Do not put a
dozen jumbo-size eggs under a small bantam hen. The number of eggs a hen can handle
is also directly related to the weather. During the cool early spring, make sure your hen
is able to fully cover all of the eggs when setting; eggs should not be exposed at the side
of her body. If hatching during hot summer weather, she can handle more, but you still
don't want to overcrowd her nest. If you do, she'll rotate too many of them to the outer
reaches of the nest, where they will chill.
Once the chicks hatch using a broody hen, you needn't set up a brooder and heat
lamp. You need only the eager hen and a proper place for Mom and babies to be. A
small, confined space — a large rabbit cage or similar structure — works well. When
the chicks are several weeks old, they can roam more freely and should do fine, barring
problems with predators such as cats and hawks. As a general rule, the mother hen will
guard and protect her chicks with all of the force she can muster.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Hen Hatching
The biggest advantage to using setting hens for incubating eggs is that you needn't
worry about power outages, equipment failure, or supplying the proper amount of hu-
midity. A hen can set on eggs in all kinds of weather conditions and despite human lim-
itations of time and money, supplying a breeder with a great percentage of successful
hatches.
Good setting hens are able to regulate temperature and humidity, and provide con-
tinuous turning that increases the hatch rate over even the best incubators. Given eggs
from the same collection, a setting hen will nearly always beat out the incubator. Of
course, this assumes you are choosing a setting hen from a breed known for good moth-
ering and you provide a proper place for her to perform her job where she is not bothered
by other fowl.
