Hatching d'Uccle chickens this spring.

[chicken4prez]

Hello!

I'm hatching some Mille Fleur d'Uccle chicks in the spring and I'm planning to sell some to a few friends. Not anything big but I only have one hen and a rooster. So if my friend would want 7 chickens then that means that I'd have to set about 9ish or so because they don't all survive. The problem with that is that chickens lay one egg a day or skip once in a while.

Will my hen be a good mother for my chicks? I'm just looking for some tips here.

 

[AlleysChicks]

Only broody girls will hatch and raise chicks. And she probably can’t cover more than 4-5 eggs.
You can collect eggs for 10 days then start incubating using a incubator.

 

[Folly's place]

My Belgian d'Uccle hens often go broody, and are good mamas. I generally have them set on eight to ten bantam eggs, and once long ago, one of the hens hid a nest of thirteen eggs, and hatched and raised twelve! In the barn, in November!
You can try to leave a couple of marked eggs in the nest, and see if it stimulates your hen to want to brood. It's totally her decision, not yours!
Right now I have an EE bantam hen who's broody, and it's not happening here in winter!
I have had Belgian d'Uccle hens who were never broody, so with only one hen, it's anyone's guess ho things go.
Mary

 

[chicken4prez]

Only broody girls will hatch and raise chicks. And she probably can’t cover more than 4-5 eggs.
You can collect eggs for 10 days then start incubating using a incubator.

I was planning to incubate them.

Wait, so they can be left alone without any heat for ten days and still become chicks>

 

[chicken4prez]

My Belgian d'Uccle hens often go broody, and are good mamas. I generally have them set on eight to ten bantam eggs, and once long ago, one of the hens hid a nest of thirteen eggs, and hatched and raised twelve! In the barn, in November!
You can try to leave a couple of marked eggs in the nest, and see if it stimulates your hen to want to brood. It's totally her decision, not yours!
Right now I have an EE bantam hen who's broody, and it's not happening here in winter!
I have had Belgian d'Uccle hens who were never broody, so with only one hen, it's anyone's guess ho things go.
Mary

Thanks.

 

[Folly's place]

You should collect clean eggs and store them at room temps, or slightly lower (not 33F!) for up to two weeks. They will probably hatch.
My limited incubator experiences have been very poor; I prefer broody raised chicks if possible.
Mary