Natural Incubation and Hen's Age/Experience Level...?

[OG_SHAMOS]

New member here. Just a newbie getting started in backyard chicken flock raising. I have some general questions on incubation as I have some chicks starting to hatch this morning.

I have a young (almost 1 year old) mixed breed hen. Don't really know her bloodline/breed. I got her from a friend. The hen is somewhat 'inexperienced'. This is her second batch only.

Her First batch was back in December 2017. First batch had about 10-12 eggs. Hatch rate was very low. Only got 4 chickens out of the first batch. Second batch right now is about 15 eggs. They started hatching this morning. Five to six are already hatched and are dry and peeping. I already lost two and collected them and discarded them from the nest. One was fully out of the egg but apparently dead. The other one was only 'partially/half way' out of the shell, but was also apparently dead. Still waiting for the rest to hatch (if they even hatch at all that is).

1. Does the 'experience level' or age of a mother hen dictate the poor or successful/better hatch rate of the eggs...?

i.e. older/more experienced hen (6+ batches) = higher/better hatch rate...young/less experienced hen (1-2 batches) = low/poor hatch rate

2. What is the 'average' hatch rate for natural incubation...?

3. What is the 'expected' hatch rate for a young/inexperienced hen who has had only 1 or 2 batches so far...?

4. Are hatch rates affected by if you breed purebreds or/vs crossbreds...?

i.e. Purebred/Land Race Breeding = higher/better hatch rates...VS...Mixed/Crossbred Breeding = lower/poor hatch rates.

Any info and/or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Normally natural incubation has very high hatch rates. Usually much higher than artificial.
A first time broody is often unreliable.
Close inbreeding can definitely affect vigor.
There are many other things that can affect hatchability.
Age of breeders, cock/hen ratio and most importantly, breeder nutrition.

 

[OG_SHAMOS]

Does weather also play a role in hatch rate success/failure...?

Some things I forgot to mention...

1. My coop isn't the 'best' build quality. No proper/good insulation. My chicken coop is a chain link fence dog run/kennel that I modified for chickens.

2. The area where I have the nest situated isn't the 'best' in terms of insulation/protection.

3. I live in Southern California. I am lucky that I live near the beach (about a mile) so temperature swings aren't too extreme...But, temps have been pretty low at night and pretty high (higher than avg) during the day. I think the big temperature swings might have done something.

4. Also...since it is southern California...The humidity is pretty low and dry all year long. Since the nest isn't properly insulated/protected...I figured the low humidity might have something to do also.

Any tips or suggestions on how to properly build a nesting box for proper insulation and protection in order to have 'optimal' temperature and humidity for the hen and eggs...?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Weather plays little role. A hen will compensate for temperature by limiting her time off the nest.
Chickens are outdoor animals and unless a very fragile breed, they don't need insulation let alone a coop. The primary purpose of the coop is predator protection. Otherwise they would be fine living and reproducing outdoors
I'm in the Midwest where temps swing from -19F to 115F. I've had hens successfully hatch from 20F to 100F. Humidity swings just as wildly.
I think you are looking at this from the perspective of artificial incubation. The hen is a product of millions of years of reproduction with no human intervention. All things being equal, she takes care of all variables like temp and humidity.
I would look closely at the variables I mentioned in the last line of my first post.

 

[OG_SHAMOS]

Normally natural incubation has very high hatch rates. Usually much higher than artificial.
A first time broody is often unreliable.
Close inbreeding can definitely affect vigor.
There are many other things that can affect hatchability.
Age of breeders, cock/hen ratio and most importantly, breeder nutrition.

I don't think there isn't any 'inbreeding' at all in my flock.

My flock consists of 11 chickens. 1 hen (the one in question). 1 rooster (mixed breed/don't know the bloodline) that I got from another friend and is definitely 'not related' to the hen in question (therefore no inbreeding). Lastly...9 juveniles...4 are the offspring/children from the first batch just like I mentioned and 5 are totally 'unrelated' that I got from another friend.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Then if the breeders are between one and 3 years in Southern California and you don't see her off the nest for extended periods, I would look at nutrition and disease as being the culprits in low natural incubation hatch rates.

 

[OG_SHAMOS]

Age of breeders...relatively young. Both the hen and rooster are almost/reaching a year old. Rooster crows but definitely does not look 'fully mature'. Hen is definitely a little older than the rooster by a couple weeks/months. Both hen and rooster haven't even reached first feather/molt yet.

Cock/hen ratio...1:1. (If including the 9 juveniles...last time I checked...is 6 males and 3 females). Which makes a 7:4 ratio of males to females.

Nutrition...20% chick starter mixed with cracked corn, cooked rice and sometimes scraps (meats/vegetables from the kitchen) for the 'whole' flock. Water kept as clean as possible on a weekly basis.

 

[OG_SHAMOS]

Disease might have something to do with it.

About a week ago...I noticed worms in some of the droppings. I don't know if they are from the hen in question but I think I might have a worm problem in my flock and the hen might have contracted it.

Which means I shouldn't be breeding the hen and rooster anymore. At least until I have dewormed the whole flock.

Thanks for the tips and insight. Will definitely look into doing a deworm and quite possibly changing the feed/nutrition.

 

[OG_SHAMOS]

Also forgot to mention...

The coop isn't kept very clean. Although it is dry...the droppings aren't cleaned on a regular basis. Also...feed and scraps are sometimes dropped on the coop floor right on the dried/old droppings for the chickens to eat. Also...coop floor has no bedding what so ever...its straight dirt on 1 half and sheets of old plywood/lumber mixed with dirt on the other half.

Might have to do a spring cleaning of the whole coop and also start putting in clean bedding so droppings won't get into feed and water.

 

[sawilliams]

Some hens are great moms and some are not. There are only a few genetic issues that i have read that will affect hatch rate (one in particular being the arcana rumpless gene) if your having hatching issues there are only a few things you can do to help the mother

1) make sure her nest is in a seperate pen with her own food and water this way no other hen will lay in that nest and mama will not be tempted to sit on a wrong nest. Shared nests can also cuase eggs or chicks to be smashed by another hen or the mom.

2 read up on candling and check the eggs at about day 10 and remove any duds (even with an active rooster sometimes the eggs just don't grow or aren't fertile)

3 keep a back up incubator incase mama abandons the nest this can happen before hatch but is helpful if mama takes her new chicks to feed and water early too.

4 just let her do her thing, even an experianced mama can give up and change her mind the more peace and quite she has the better.

As for your coop setup, dear your fine. I'm in northern California and have a bare wood shed that i leave open year round. It is literally just there for wind and rain protection. And my temps swing from 20-110+ degrees with this time of year being low 50s one day and high 80s the next. A friend in my same area has a 3 sides open air coop that agian is just protection for the elements

I had a broody last year that I was only able to get 2 eggs for her to sit on. It was her first time and she had already been trying to sit for almost 2 months before I got her some eggs (we where moving). One got smashed early on becuase we couldn't seperate the hens right away. But she stuck to the other hatched out a beautiful little chick and readily accepted 6 more feed store chicks to complete her family. She was a bit too gentle in my opinion add she would readily take a break from sitting if another hen needed to lay an egg. At one point the egg had even gotten kicked out of the nest (fortunatly temps then where 90-100+) but the eggs had been out of the nest at least a few hours before I found it and put it back under her.

I would say if your hatching issues continue you might try a different rooster incase there are other genetic factors or try a smaller number of eggs so the mama can be sure to tend each of then properly while sitting. Though a standard hen should be able to handle 12-15 eggs with no issue some hens will only ever be successful with fewer eggs. You'd be surprised what length some hens will go to the hatch eggs. Another of my friends has a hen that will incubate 20 or more under the water heater, how she gets in there I have no idea. But she hides behind it so no one can get to her and rolls most of her eggs around under nether the water heater while she only sits on a few at a time. Eggs that don't make it are usually ones that roll out toward the front of the water heater where she can't tend to then anymore.