Naturally hatching Light Brahmas

[Jezahu]

Hi! We are developing homesteaders and have 53 light brahams that we got from a hatchery for meat and eggs. 10 of them should be Roos. The rest should be pullets. They are about 11 weeks old (hatched on April 15th) and are getting BIG! We have had them outside with our 5 older hens with just some chicken wire separating them for a couple of weeks. We divided the large pen with a small section that we covered with bird netting and ran the netting from the ground up a couple of feet to protect future baby chicks from getting out or anything from getting in to hurt them, even chicken Hawks. We are going to put the pullets that will be for egg laying into the bigger pen with the older hens, keep the best Roo or two to fertilize eggs in the small pen with about 10 hens to hatch their eggs naturally and the rest of the Roos will go into the freezer.

Here's a few questions that I can't seem to find answers to:

If left to their own devices and each provided with their own nesting boxes in a coop; does each hen lay their own separate clutch or do they "share" eggs? How many eggs do they lay before their clutch is "complete"? So does that mean that one egg will be several days/weeks "older" than the others? How many eggs is typical in a clutch? How long before she starts laying her next batch of eggs?

 

[Jezahu]

Bump

 

[Jezahu]

Beuller...

 

[Bine]

Hens have the tendency to share a nest. The hen logic says: If a egg is in that nest it must be a save place.
So you will hear disputes over one nest even when every hen could have her own.
A full nest always is attractive for a broody hen so, they will sit on her own as well as on the eggs of her sisters. If my hens have the chance they even roll eggs over from other nests, but even when the hens logic says: The more the better, I only let my tiny bird sit on a max of six eggs b/c with more they have problems to heat them all and I may have less chicks hatching from a big nest than from a small.
The days bevor the hen starts breeding, you will notice that she is more interessted in the nesting boxes and often the rooster is around her, showing her the best places for a nest, talking to her ...
Something like this:

Than it can all go very quick. She finds "her" nest and she sits. Often you will notice that the roosters behavior changes a day or two before a hen goes broody. Often they try to protect the nests and try to block you on your way to the coop.
My sweet little d'anvers roosters turn into the Hulk, every time on of my girls gets broody, standing guard in front of the nest as long as I am in the coop, watching every move and attacing me if I move to close to "his" eggs.

 

[Bine]

The eggs can be up to two weeks old and a nest with standard birds has 12- 14 eggs. Always separate the broody from other hens. Otherwise the other hens will lay new eggs into the nest. That can stress the broody esp. when she is a low ranking hen.
Sometimes a lower ranking hen gets pushed for her nest, when a top hen finally gets broody too.
A hen will care for the chicks for about 3 weeks and than she starts laying again.
I try to manage that a hen only goes broody with for one max. two times in a year, so she doesn't burn out.
So when the chicks are old enough I move her with the chicks to the free range.