At what age do hens produce most fertile and hatchable eggs?

[307151]

Does the hatching rate decrease as hens get older? How soon can you hatch eggs after a hen starts laying (since they usually have flaws in their eggs when they first start)?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

It seems only natural that a hens fertility would reduce as she ages. Older hens eggs could produce problems with the chicks from them as the laying machine in her may not be In full working order or dwindling. Good nutrition and husbandry of your hens and they should produce good quality eggs.

I waited about a month before incubating any of my girls eggs just to make sure as you said everything was working well. A small egg will produce a small chick that may have problems. Incubating and hatching starts with egg. A good quality egg and healthy parent birds and you should have healthy chicks.

Here is nice article that has a section on parent birds https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

 

[307151]

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