Hatching eggs from older hens

[16Chickens Keeper]

So I'm wanting to hatch out eggs next spring from my hens, I have 3 that are going to be 3 years old, 10 hens that are gonna be 2 and 2 hens that are gonna be 1 1/2.

1. My questions
2. How fertile will they be?
3. Would I have to give them high-quality feed prior to collecting eggs?
4. What would be the hatch rate?

I mainly want to hatch because these are the first hens I've had and since they're gonna slow down on egg production were gonna have to sell them off and I'd like to keep a bit of them. Plus I did hatch out a dozen chicks from them this summer but we lost many of them from a Duck Massacre

 

[chickenlittle21]

how many roosters do you have? a rooster mates up to 2 times a day, for your amount of hens you should have 1-2 roosters, more than that amount of roosters and the mating might stress the hens, make sure that the roosters spurs are not to sharp where he could damage the hens when mating. If you want to have a lot of chicks and have the eggs be very fertile you should have 2 roosters but the chickens new to mating may get a little stressed.

 

[16Chickens Keeper]

how many roosters do you have? a rooster mates up to 2 times a day, for your amount of hens you should have 1-2 roosters, more than that amount of roosters and the mating might stress the hens, make sure that the roosters' spurs are not to sharp where he could damage the hens when mating. If you want to have a lot of chicks and have the eggs be very fertile you should have 2 roosters but the chickens new to mating may get a little stressed.

I have a mixed rooster about a year old may be more he's got about 1-inch spurs
A second Cockerell (6 months 3/4 Ayam Cemani x Americauna) who does not have spurs yet
And a Mille Fleur D'uccle cockerel also about 6 months old

 

[ValerieJ]

a rooster mates up to 2 times a day,

We must have had an amorous rooster!!! He mated at least 2 times an hour!!!

 

[chickenlittle21]

I have a mixed rooster about a year old may be more he's got about 1-inch spurs
A second Cockerell (6 months 3/4 Ayam Cemani x Americauna) who does not have spurs yet
And a Mille Fleur D'uccle cockerel also about 6 months old

you might want think about trimming the mixed rooster's spurs if they are sharp, the hens you have that are used to mating should be okay with 3 roosters, but i do not know about your young hens, make sure the hens do not get stressed out.

 

[chickenlittle21]

We must have had an amorous rooster!!! He mated at least 2 times an hour!!!

you must of had a lot of chicks or eggs!

 

[ValerieJ]

you must of had a lot of chicks or eggs!

I had a couple chickens with so few feathers I could have put them in the pot without plucking! That rooster had to go when winter was moving in. I was worried about my girls.

 

[16Chickens Keeper]

We must have had an amorous rooster!!! He mated at least 2 times an hour!!!

wow

 

[ValerieJ]

wow

Actually I'm reading up on cockerels this time since I have 2 or 3 of them at 7 weeks old. I now realize that my "rooster" which was given to me, and I thought was a rooster, may have been a cockerel. I should have kept him separate until he got past that crazy hormonal stage. I will be more patient with these new ones. They'll have their own bachelor pad with conjugal visit privileges if they are good to my girls.

 

[Cyprus]

We must have had an amorous rooster!!! He mated at least 2 times an hour!!!

Same.

But try that with 4 cockerels and 12 hens. (Hatchery mix up, not my fault. They went to the butcher).