A dumb question

[Coop Deville]

Forgive the idiocy here, but my daughter asked me a question that I just can't answer.

We saw this video here of a hen with 13 babies:

The question was, how can all of the chicks hatch at once if the hen lays, at most, one egg a day? Wouldn't the chicks hatch a day apart, in the order that their eggs were laid? Are all of the chicks the hen's, or did they come from other hens, too? If they come from the same mother, wouldn't each egg have to be fertilized separately, one per day?

I'm confused.

 

[Jubilee1111]

Hens will stock their nest with eggs until they have enough to sit down and incubate them. I've had girls lay 24 eggs in their own private nest before setting down to the task of hatching them. Until they commit to staying on the nest for the 21 days.. and I mean commit... with only occasional quick breaks to potty, drink and gobble some food... they won't start developing embryos. That's how people can ship fertilized eggs for hatching.

 

[Coop Deville]

That is most helpful. Thanks!

 

[Pele]

What a wonderful question! I wondered the same thing when I first started to raise chickens.

The answer is that eggs do not start developing until they are incubated (experience steady temps of 98 to 102 degrees). So, unless your climate is extremely hot, they'll sit and wait until the hen decides to finally get down to staying on top of her nest. The hen needs to not take too long though, as fertility of the unincubated egg declines as it ages. Usually a week is ok, but longer than that gets dicey.

It is not uncommon for a broody hen to also steal eggs from other hens, which is how you get such a gigantic clutch (13 would normally take a single hen 2 weeks to lay!). The other hens don't mind unless they are feeling broody (motherly) as well. It's a major horomonal change that causes the chicken to behave in a completely different fashion than normal.

Hope that helps a bit!

 

[Coop Deville]

That's very interesting. Truly remarkable creatures to have such discretion in their breeding. Thank you for the explanation.