How many chicks can a large fowl broody raise?

[J&Kfeatheredfowl]

how many can a large fowl broody raise? Will this number change depending on if they are chicks or keets, or mixed? Can a chicken even raise keets?

When I was on holiday a bantam chicken had escaped from the zoo and lived wild in the botanical gardens, it had 12 chicks with it, all healthy and soooo cute!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't think you're talking about hatching, just giving her already hatched chicks, but I'll answer that anyway. Hens and eggs come in different sizes. A hen needs to be able to comfortably cover all the eggs. A tiny bantam may struggle to cover 4 large fowl eggs. Who knows how many bantam eggs a large fowl hen can cover.

I once had a hen that could barely dover 10 eggs. I had a hen hide a nest and come off with 18 chicks. I never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. So no definite number but I normally set 12.

Time of year has a lot to do with how many a hen can raise. It doesn't take them long to grow to a fairly large size. Depending on how cold it gets she might reach a limit here. But I've had hens here raise 15 and 16 chicks in warm weather, plus that one that hatched 18. I think @centrarchid said he had one raise well over 20. I've seen chicks just a couple of days old sleep next to or on top of Mama instead of under her with the overnight lows in the upper 70's so she doesn't necessarily have to be able to cover all of them. In cold weather you probably want to restrict that total number.

I don't do guineas but I don't see why a hen couldn't raise them. As active as they are she'd probably go bonkers but she'll probably manage.

 

[J&Kfeatheredfowl]

I don't think you're talking about hatching, just giving her already hatched chicks, but I'll answer that anyway. Hens and eggs come in different sizes. A hen needs to be able to comfortably cover all the eggs. A tiny bantam may struggle to cover 4 large fowl eggs. Who knows how many bantam eggs a large fowl hen can cover.

I once had a hen that could barely dover 10 eggs. I had a hen hide a nest and come off with 18 chicks. I never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. So no definite number but I normally set 12.

Time of year has a lot to do with how many a hen can raise. It doesn't take them long to grow to a fairly large size. Depending on how cold it gets she might reach a limit here. But I've had hens here raise 15 and 16 chicks in warm weather, plus that one that hatched 18. I think @centrarchid said he had one raise well over 20. I've seen chicks just a couple of days old sleep next to or on top of Mama instead of under her with the overnight lows in the upper 70's so she doesn't necessarily have to be able to cover all of them. In cold weather you probably want to restrict that total number.

I don't do guineas but I don't see why a hen couldn't raise them. As active as they are she'd probably go bonkers but she'll probably manage.

I was taking about hatching eggs, thank you for your reply.

 

[red horse ranch]

Chickens do a great job hatching and raising baby guineas! And they are usually a lot easier to get along with than a broody guinea hen. A large chicken hen could easily cover a dozen chicken eggs and even more guinea eggs. A guinea hen is small, usually less than 4 pounds. But she can still successfully cover 15 to 20 guinea eggs.

 

[J&Kfeatheredfowl]

Chickens do a great job hatching and raising baby guineas! And they are usually a lot easier to get along with than a broody guinea hen. A large chicken hen could easily cover a dozen chicken eggs and even more guinea eggs. A guinea hen is small, usually less than 4 pounds. But she can still successfully cover 15 to 20 guinea eggs.

Thank you for the information, can a broody raise a mix of keets and chicks, as they require different protein levels

 

[red horse ranch]

Yes a chicken hen could raise both at the same time. Keets actually need a higher protein but I have raised them together on chick starter or grower. If you can find a 22% meat bird food they could all be raised with that. It doesn't hurt for the hen to eat the same thing her babies eat since she won't be laying eggs while she has babies to raise.

 

[J&Kfeatheredfowl]

Yes a chicken hen could raise both at the same time. Keets actually need a higher protein but I have raised them together on chick starter or grower. If you can find a 22% meat bird food they could all be raised with that. It doesn't hurt for the hen to eat the same thing her babies eat since she won't be laying eggs while she has babies to raise.

Thank you very much for your advice