What is a "clutch"?

[momofchicks]

Is it how many eggs in a pile? Is it how many eggs a hen lays in a week? What does the term clutch actually mean?
Thanks

 

[houndit]

A clutch is one batch of chicks or eggs that a bird is setting on at once. So you might have a chicken setting a clutch of 12 eggs. My hen might be setting a clutch of only 9 eggs.