How many chicks can one Broody raise?

[9gerianMile]

I have my broody Australorp setting on 5 eggs, there are another 14 fertile in the bator from the same order. How many can one broody take on at a time?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My big Buff Orpington girl hatched a brood of 24 last spring. She kept stealing eggs, and was so darn mean I gave up trying to pluck the new ones from her nest. I thought it was a bit much and she would loose some, but Nope. She was content to raise all of her babies and steal everone elses chicks too. I would think your BA could take care of 12-14 easily, she may be able to be a surrogate to all of the chicks if you place her in a seperate pen and provide some other heat source just in case she can't cover them all. She may not even accept the chicks that weren't hatched specifically by her, so you may want to have a back up brooder just in case. Good luck!