Clutch size for broody hen?

[AinaWGSD]

Question for those with broody experience, how many eggs do you usually give a broody hen? Assuming med-large eggs for a large fowl/standard size hen.

Since my olive egger is a frequent flyer in broody jail I'm planning on letting her help me hatch next year. Last year we gave her 7 eggs, 5 of which were clear (not an incubation issue). I'm considering giving her 8 eggs next time, but wondering if pushing it to an even 10 would be too much.

 

[Beau plus penny]

Question for those with broody experience, how many eggs do you usually give a broody hen? Assuming med-large eggs for a large fowl/standard size hen.

Since my olive egger is a frequent flyer in broody jail I'm planning on letting her help me hatch next year. Last year we gave her 7 eggs, 5 of which were clear (not an incubation issue). I'm considering giving her 8 eggs next time, but wondering if pushing it to an even 10 would be too much.

depends on how dedicated she is to hatching eggs some broody hens can be quiet comical with their clutch sizes

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have given a dozen before. It depends on the size of the hen and if she can actually cover them. I had an older speckled Sussex do well with a dozen and a young Salmon Faverolle kick a few of her dozen out. The SF eggs had a terrible hatch rate but they were a gamble because they were $5/dozen since the lady didn’t know if her rooster was fertile. I got two chicks from that hatch so I am guessing she had figured out there were lots of duds but I’ll never know since I didn’t candle them. The Sussex clutch did better but those eggs were from a breeder. All that to say I don’t think 10 is a bad idea. Go for it!

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

I put 12 under our first as we had no idea which ones were fertile. 6 hatched.

Second and third time we kept it at 6 just bc it seemed like a good number for us. But my friend has successfully hatched 12 under a broody and didnt have any issues.

Ive seen clutches from 2-12 on here and im sure some more than that.

Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How many chicks do you want? You don't know if every egg will hatch or if none will. You don't know if all will be boys or all will be girls. A lot of unknowns when you start hatching eggs.

Eggs and hens come in varying sizes. A tiny bantam may have trouble covering 4 full sized hen eggs while a full sized hen can cover a lot of bantam eggs. The hen needs to be able to cover all of them, otherwise you won't get a good hatch.

In warm weather a hen can handle raising quite a few chicks. She doesn't have to cover all of them all of the time. I've seen pretty young chicks sleep next to or on top of a broody hen in warm weather. If they get cold they push under her and push another chick out for a while. In colder weather she may need to cover all of them all of the time until they are 4 weeks old or so.

It helps raising them if you have more than one chick. When the hen weans them the chicks will be left on their own. It can be hard raising one chick with the flock after she has weaned it. Since you don't know how many will hatch I'd give her a few ore eggs than the absolute minimum.

I had a hen hide a nest and bring 18 chicks out. I never found the nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with but she could obviously cover that many. I once gave 12 eggs to a hen but she had trouble covering them all so I reduced it to 10.

Every year I want to hatch about 40 to 45 chicks. I use an incubator to hatch about 20 early in the year and rely on broody hens to hatch the rest later on in the year. Since my goal is to hatch several chicks, I usually give a hen 12 eggs about the size she normally lays.

I don't know your goals for those chicks. Without knowing the size of that hen or of the specific eggs 8 to 10 sounds like a great number. 12 is probably not too many.

Good luck!!!

 

[AinaWGSD]

Thanks everyone! We're raising buckeyes and malines for meat with eggs being more of a bonus, so I will not be sad with a male heavy hatch.

My goal next year is to hatch 100. Our incubator holds 50, so that shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. Husband thinks that's maybe a bit ambitious, but we did 40 this year so I think it's doable. And we don't necessarily need to raise all of them, if we feel overwhelmed we can always advertise chicks for sale.

But I think letting some broodies raise some will make it easier for us. Limu did well last spring, I think the poor hatch was 100% that the eggs just didn't have good fertility. And so far this year 5/6 of my hens have gone broody multiple times. So I figure, why not put them to work?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I love hatching with broodies! Definitely easier to let them do all the work

 

[Perris]

Question for those with broody experience, how many eggs do you usually give a broody hen? Assuming med-large eggs for a large fowl/standard size hen.

My aim is a self-sustaining flock, living as naturally as possible, so I want to let broodies do their thing if they are so inclined, but also I don't want to be overrun with chickens; there is a limit to how many this garden can sustain.

So I typically give 4 to 6, depending on (i) whether or not the broody is a novice (fewer for beginners); (ii) whether the eggs are home grown or purchased (they often come in 6s in the latter case); (iii) how many broodies have already raised young that year. I expect most that hatch to make it to adulthood, as most do here, so that limits the number I set too.

You might find this article I wrote on the topic useful

Article 'How good is your broody? How to identify the good, the bad, and the indifferent'

Introduction This article focuses on the broody hen, and only incidentally on the chicks they raise. There are already a lot of good articles and threads on BYC about using broody hens to raise chicks, and links to three such articles can be found at the end of this article. What I want to do...

• Perris
• Nov 16, 2024
• Updated Nov 16, 2024
• 16 min read
• 5.00 star(s) 11 ratings
• Reaction score: 11
• Reviews: 10
• Category: Hatching Eggs & Raising Chickens

 

[BDutch]

But I think letting some broodies raise some will make it easier for us. Limu did well last spring, I think the poor hatch was 100% that the eggs just didn't have good fertility. And so far this year 5/6 of my hens have gone broody multiple times. So I figure, why not put them to work?

There are more things to consider besides the numbers in keeping the eggs warm.
Already mentioned is the temperature. Hatching in cold weather is more difficult.
I have learned that a good nest can have much influence in the outcome. A base of sand or a clod with a firm round hole that prevents the eggs from rolling away is very helpful.

Next thing to consider: how do you want to the hen to raise a large number of chicks?
How is your setup, space and the flock dynamics. Do you want the hen to sit and raise the chicks with the flock? Raising 10 chicks in a stressful environment is not something I would recommend. Neither is raising 10 chicks when she is free ranging with lots of predators nearby.
There is also the possibility to separate in a private coop and run + integrate after a few weeks.

In general it’s much easier to for the mother hen to raise up to 6 chicks than 10.