How many eggs can a bantam Sizzle hatch?

[Altfrizzle]

She went broody the day after I set eggs, and I gave her some of the older ones I had collected in the kitchen. So, she has a total of 8 eggs and I have a dozen of hers and the other Sizzle hens in the incubator. I also have a dozen half silkie/half Serama eggs in there and I'm thinking of separating those when they hatch.

Since her eggs should hatch within about 24 hours of mine, I'm thinking of giving her back the chicks from the ones I hatch, but that could mean a total of 20 chicks for her to raise! Or maybe I can give her just some of the ones I hatch? I'd much prefer that to brooding all of them inside.

 

[sourland]

The answer to your question is - as many as she can cover, but I think that you really want to know how many chicks she can brood. The answer to that would be as many as she can cover - unless you provide supplemental heat.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

sourland is absolutely right although I tend to walk where sitting hens refuse to tread. The old standard is that any hen can sufficiently cover or hover 15 eggs of the same size as the hen normally lays. Hens don't just sit on eggs they also gather them up and hold them under their wings in close contact with their bodies. This is just one reason to not mess with a sitting hen. I have lifted hens off the nest needlessly only to be met with a shower of eggs falling out from under their wings. Some of the eggs suffered cracks as a result. The 15 egg rule has another good thing going for it. After 15 days the hatchability of fertile eggs falls off the cliff.