New babies on the way............Help

[jot]

Hi everyone.
I am asking for help in new babies.
I am new to the chicken world and must say I am loving it. I also have to say that I am not very familar with the correct chicken terminology but am willing to learn so please excuse my wording. I have had my extended family since June 2006.
I have a chicken that has 18 eggs that she has been sitting on, I need to find out;
Is this a normal amount of eggs?
how long it takes for the eggs to hatch?
what would the percentage of hatchlings be?
and most inportantly, how do I correctly take care of them once they arrive?
I have a 13' X 7' chicken coop (dog run covered w/tarp) in this residence are 9 chickens, 1 rooster, 2 guiene's
do the chicks need to be protected from the others and if so, how?

Thank you so much,
Cindy

 

[SpottedCrow]

What kind of hen is she? Some big fluffybutted birds can cover a lot of eggs.
It takes an average of 21 days for eggs to hatch. It can be as short as 18 or as long as 30.
Have you candled the eggs? That means risking life and limb to get the eggs one at a time out from under the hen and holding them up to a strong light and seeing if anything's growing in them.
Chicks need to be kept warm. I would keep the mother and chicks separate from the others until the chicks are fully feathered, not the down that they come with but real feathers. It's only like a week or so. Take out the Guineas! Someone on here got their chicks killed by guineas. If you have an extra dog crate or a large tucker tote that you can hang a light over to keep Momma and babies separate, that would be a good thing.
Good luck.

 

[jot]

Thank you SpottedCrow for your reply.
it does help and will take your advice
I wish I knew what kind of chicken the momma is, my brother brought (5) chicks when he heard that my mother and I wanted to start raising chickens. no one seems to know their breed. I had them all named until they grew up and now they all look alike and can't tell them apart so they are all named squiggy ( I had lenny, squiggy, laverne, shirley and fonzie) anyway this breed is not too fluffy infact they seem pretty thin for a chicken but she seems to be doing a good job at keeping all the eggs covered.
Thanks again,

 

[SpottedCrow]

If you'd like us to try and identify the birds, you can post in the what breed am I section? and we figure it out or go to:

http://www.feathersite.com/
and look at all the pictures...you'll drool over all the ones you want...LOL
I will add that sometimes Momma knows what she's doing, even if she's a first timer.
My Goddess, my mind is mush sometimes...there's an Egg to Hatch and a Taking care of Chicks section here too...