How many chicks?

[Harranda]

Hi. I'm very new to getting chickens and I just want to find out on average how many chicks a Plymouth hen can have?

I plan on getting two hens and one rooster and while the rooster is breeding with the first hen the second shall be laying and so the rotation will go.

I know there is a period where the hen is with her chicks, how long is this for the Plymouth?

 

[sylviethecochin]

First, Hens generally stay with the chicks for 6-9 weeks.

Heritage Barred Rocks are more likely to sit a nest and brood.

If you're buying hatchery birds, unless you're extremely lucky, that won't work.

Plymouth hens have been bred for egg laying for a very long time. I've had fifteen or so of those hens, and only one has ever gone broody. Even if you do get a broody, there's no guarantee she'll be a good, responsible mother.

If you want a broody hen, check out silkies, (8-10 eggs in a nest) Buff Orpingtons, (10-12 eggs), game hens (unsure, I raise bantam games) and Bantam Cochins (4-5 eggs). Wyandottes are also known to set on nests.

If you just want to raise chicks and are prepared to put some work into it, buy or make an incubator. (some homemade examples on BYC.) That way, you're getting eggs from both hens all the time.

EDT: And welcome to BYC! Good luck.