Homeowners who keep chickens on their farm constantly need to update their chicken yard. It is replenished by purchasing chickens at the market or hatching in an incubator. But many poultry farmers use a hen to hatch chickens. This is the most reliable and less troublesome method compared to others. The hen will hatch the chicks herself, teach them everything they need, feed them, warm them and protect them. The poultry farmer should practically not interfere in this process until the young animals appear. With the exception of creating some conditions that make it easier for the hen to hatch and care for the chicks.
If a chicken sits on an egg, the poultry farmer must make sure that her intentions are serious.
Important! If, when a person approaches, a hen leaves the nest clucking and runs away, then such a hen is most often not suitable for incubation. The best option would be to take another chicken.
A good hen will not leave the nest when the poultrykeeper approaches, and when trying to remove her from there, she will return to her place or remain sitting where she was left. If there is none, then use the one that is available. And in order for her not to leave the nest, she must be forced to do this, that is, forcibly imprisoned. To do this, it is covered with a net or box. With this method of incubation, the bird must be released twice a day for feeding, which poses certain inconveniences for the poultry farmer.
The hen incubates eggs for 21 days, but egg pecking begins already on the 19th day. All this time, the hen with her body creates the microclimate necessary for the birth and development of the chick. The temperature of the masonry in its different parts is not the same. Higher in the center, lower at the edges. In order to level it, the hen moves the eggs under her up to 20 times per day, changing their places. At the same time, she turns them over so that the embryo does not stick to the shell.
During the first two to three days, the hen does not need to be disturbed. If she hasn’t “settled down” yet, she may leave the nest for a long time. And prolonged cooling of the eggs will lead to the death of the embryos. After three days, you need to monitor whether the bird gets up to peck food. Having discovered that she does not do this, you need to bring her to the feeder. If you do not pay attention to this, the hen will become very weak, which will negatively affect the creation of the desired microclimate and the hatching process.
During the brooding process, the hen, in addition to the required temperature, also creates the required level of humidity. To do this, place a container of clean water next to the bird, in which it wets its feathers and thus maintains the level of humidity in the nest.
If the hen leaves the nest for a short time, this should not bother the poultry farmer. She uses this time to rest and feed. In addition, eggs should be slightly cooled 1-2 times during the day, especially starting from the second week, so as not to steam. This time is used to clean the nest from droppings, replace bedding, and check the integrity of the eggs. Damaged eggs are removed, but new ones are not placed in their place. The chickens will not have time to develop in them.
The hen should be fed only dry food to avoid causing stomach upset and contamination of the eggs with feces. Pollution leads to the death of embryos.
Controlling the development of the chick in the egg
If desired, the poultry farmer monitors the development of the chick during the incubation period. This is done using an ovoscope. This device is easy to make at home. To do this, an oval hole is cut in a small cardboard box onto which the egg is placed. The reflector of a table lamp is inserted into the drawer from below. When the lamp is turned on, the egg is translucent and with a certain skill you can assess its condition. Control is carried out after every 6 days:
- 1. After the first period, unfertilized eggs can be detected. When examined, they are light, but there is no circulatory system. If during this time the embryo began to develop, but died, then the rudiments of the circulatory system in the form of a ring will be discovered. Such eggs are removed so that the hen does not waste her strength on them.
- 2. After the second period, you can find that in healthy embryos the egg is light in color and a complete network of blood vessels is visible. They stretch along the entire length of the egg from the blunt end to the sharp one. If the embryo is visible as a dark spot and there are no blood vessels, this means that the embryo has died.
- 3. On the third final viewing, you can detect the embryo itself and its movements in the egg. An egg that is dark when exposed to light and lack of movement indicates its death.
Exit of young animals
On the 19th day, the developed chickens peck at the shell in the egg from its blunt side and within 2 days the young hatch. This period requires the poultry farmer to pay increased attention to the masonry. If the hatched chick does not come out of the shell for a long time and squeaks, you can help it. To do this, you need to carefully, in small pieces, break off the shell from the peck site and give it the opportunity to come out of the egg.
If fresh blood appears as a result of negligence, this procedure must be stopped immediately and the chicken should be replaced.
After the last chick hatches from the egg, the hen will leave the nest. If there are unhatched eggs left in it, then they have frozen embryos.
Each poultry farmer approaches the issue of selecting chickens from under the hen, taking into account his experience and the condition of the hen. If she is experienced and this is not her first brood, then the young are left under her. If she has hatched chicks for the first time, does not have the skill and can accidentally choke them, then they are taken to a separate warm place to dry, and later returned to the hen.
Further maintenance of the hen and chickens consists of creating normal feeding conditions for them and keeping them in a place inaccessible to cats and rats. The hen will take care of the rest.
When trying to expand the chicken family, many farmers are faced with the problem of chickens’ reluctance to hatch eggs. Unfortunately, the problem happens often, and some of the breeds, in principle, do not have maternal instinct.
However, most quons can still be forced to hatch chicks: we’ll find out how to put a chicken on eggs in the article.
General points
On a small farm or in a personal backyard, using a laying hen as an incubator is a popular, economical and quite convenient way. The bird can completely replace an artificial incubator: it will turn the eggs so that they do not overheat, regulate the humidity in the nest, and can also provide care for the chickens.
But although a properly prepared and trained hen with a developed maternal instinct can be an excellent hen, if the enterprise is on an industrial scale, we strongly recommend that you acquire an incubator. This will greatly ease the hassle of breeding offspring.
It is recommended to plant a chicken at home on eggs in the spring, as it allows for growing and maturing in the best possible way warm is suitable for chickens summer period and the beginning of autumn.
If there is a need to plant several hens, you need to start the hatching process at the same time. At the same time, place the nests at a distance from each other so that the birds do not confuse them and do not conflict with each other on this basis.
How to choose a hen?
If there is a need for a live incubator, the first step is to find a hen suitable for this purpose. It is necessary to observe for some time the available population of birds suitable for incubation and select those that are most suitable.
A chicken with an awakened maternal instinct has behavior that differs from other individuals:
- she tries to sit in the nest for a long time, reluctantly leaving it;
- the bird clucks anxiously;
- the hen will also pluck her feathers to make a nest.
In addition, according to farmers, the best hens are birds aged two to four years. And the comb of a bird, ready for incubation, changes slightly in color, becoming pale pink.
The appetite of such an individual decreases, so sometimes the future hen has to be fed almost by force: otherwise the bird can lose a lot of weight.
The hen can be identified by next sign: the bird looks for the most secluded and dark corners of the chicken coop, sitting in boxes, baskets, and other suitable places. The signs listed above make it possible to accurately select a hen.
The presence or absence of maternal instinct largely depends on the breed of chicken. Bantam and silk breed chickens are particularly prone to breeding offspring. These birds are able to hatch with equal zeal not only their own eggs, but also those of others.
Also,Representatives of the following breeds are naturally good brood hens:
- Cochinquin;
- gate;
- Welsumer;
- Kuchin anniversary.
If you have chickens of these particular breeds in your poultry yard, there will be no problem with eggs hatching. In addition, outbred chickens are also excellent mothers and willingly sit on eggs. This is explained amazing fact because mongrel birds have strong instincts in principle, including the maternal one - they need it for survival.
It is interesting that a chicken with a developed maternal instinct calmly sits on eggs and birds of other breeds: turkey, goose, duck.
The maternal instinct is completely absent in the Highsex, the Hai Lan breed and some others. It is rare that the hen instinct manifests itself in hatchery hens. Cross-breed chickens, as well as hybrid breeds of the new generation, also rarely have maternal instinct.
Young hens are not often distinguished by a developed maternal instinct: they often abandon nests, throw eggs on the floor, and go away for a long time. To avoid such problems, young chickens are first placed on decoy eggs or store-bought eggs.
If a bird sits on a decoy clutch for several days, leaving only for a short time, most likely, it is already ready to sit on eggs as a full-fledged hen. An individual unsuitable for this purpose will leave the clutch within a couple of days.
Why does a chicken refuse to be a hen?
First of all, the reason for this is the absence, in principle, of maternal instinct in the female. This is the main reason.
In addition to this, the following factors can scare away the hen from fulfilling her maternal duty:
- an improperly equipped nest, uncomfortable and located in the wrong place;
- strong noise around the nesting site, other external stimuli;
- the light in the coop is too bright;
- close proximity to other hens and their nests.
Often a young hen is not ready for incubation.
Planting methods
Let's look at the most popular methods of planting chickens on eggs.
Method of deception
If there is no female suitable for incubation in the entire chicken coop, you will have to use a trick. Place several eggs (decoys) in the nest and then watch the birds for a week. As a rule, there is always at least one hen who undertakes to hatch the laid eggs.
When the bird has already sat on the decoys and is firmly established, replace them discreetly with real eggs. However, the replacement must be done so that the hen does not suspect anything.
It is also important not to scare the bird. Therefore, place the eggs carefully behind the bird or wait until the hen leaves the nest to eat or drink.
Forced landing
You can force a chicken to sit on the clutch. However, there is nothing scary or life-threatening to the bird in this method. You just need to choose and arrange a suitable nest, located in a secluded, quiet place in the chicken coop. Egg decoys are placed in the nest and the bird is seated on them.
The cage with the nest must be locked to prevent the bird from getting out. Usually, after several days, the bird’s maternal instinct automatically turns on, and it continues to incubate real eggs.
If, nevertheless, the chicken is not ready to hatch, it must be replaced with another individual. But don’t take a young hen, it’s better to try to make an old hen or mature age bird.
Instead of a cage, you can cover the nest with the bird in a basin or basket, letting it out a couple of times a day for feeding and a short walk. Often, after sitting in a dark, closed place on the nest for several days, the chicken remains on the clutch.
It is better to plant the plant in the evening, after sunset. Related this recommendation with the fact that the atmosphere at this time will be muted, darkened and calm.
Preparing the eggs
In order for the chicks to hatch safely, the choice of the hen is not enough. You also need to select and prepare the eggs correctly.
It is best to lay an odd number of eggs, since in this case they will be more conveniently distributed in the nest. The optimal quantity is 11-15 pieces. Look at the size of the hen: under a small bird you should put a smaller one, a large one can hatch 17 pieces.
It is better to choose medium-sized eggs rather than large ones. Large eggs often contain two yolk embryos, but in small eggs the embryo may be underdeveloped and defective. Their shell must be strong. Take eggs only from an adult bird that is healthy and strong.
It is very important that the eggs are fresh: no more than five days should pass from the moment of laying to the start of hatching. From laying to laying in the nest, eggs must be stored at a temperature of +15-20 degrees: they cannot be frozen or kept at too high a temperature.
The eggs are laid out in only one layer so that the hen's body covers them on all sides.
Arrangement of the nest
The nest in which the hen will hatch chicks must be prepared in advance. And after the bird has already settled on it, it will gradually independently make the place more cozy and comfortable. Can be used as a nest container cardboard box, wooden box, shallow basket.
Raise the corners of the container to prevent eggs from rolling out from under the bird. And in front of the nest, hang a canopy made of light fabric to create maximum privacy and a calm environment for the bird. The canopy should not interfere with the bird’s access to the “house”.
The nest should be located in a secluded and dark place on a small hill so that small rodents cannot reach the eggs.
As for size, the chicken should be located comfortably and freely in the nest. However, there is no need for a nest that is too spacious - the eggs may roll out of it. The optimal parameters are 55x35 cm.
Make sure that the air temperature in the chicken coop when incubating eggs does not fall below +20 degrees. Humidity must be maintained at 70-78%.
Caring for a hen
In order for chicks to hatch safely, it is necessary to properly care for the chicken during the incubation period. Next, we'll go through all the important points.
Temperature
A very important aspect for hatching eggs. It is necessary to ensure that the air temperature in the chicken coop does not fall below +15 degrees. The ideal range is +15-20 degrees.
Walks
The chicken should not be constantly on the eggs. Make sure that the bird leaves the nest at least once or twice a day to eat and drink. In addition, the kitten should also walk and stretch its legs. During the first days, do not disturb the bird, but starting from the fourth or fifth day, if the hen refuses to leave the nest, you need to help her.
If the bird does not want to leave the nest in its own water, it is necessary to remove it from the eggs by force. While the hen is away, cover the eggs with cloth or straw: this must be done so that no other bird will sit on the nest in the absence of the hen.
If the “real mother” returns and finds someone else’s hen “at home,” a fight cannot be avoided.
The duration of the walk is 15-20 minutes, which is quite enough. And again - if the hen does not want to return to the eggs, help her and force her into the nest.
We recommend cleaning the cage and nest while the bird is away. Inspect the laying site and remove broken eggs, if any. Sometimes a chicken throws unusable eggs onto the floor - they also need to be collected, then cleaned the floor.
But after removing the defective eggs, you should not add new ones - the chicken will notice the substitution and may refuse to sit on the nest any longer.
Feeding
Place a feeder and water bowl near the nest. The bird should be able to leave the laying site for a short time in order to get enough. The hen is fed with mixed feed, chopped root vegetables, fresh grass or hay. Woodlice is well suited as green food.
About a week before the chicks are expected to hatch, the chicken should be fed heavily. The recommendation is connected with the fact that by the time the offspring appear, the bird should be in good shape, become more resilient and strong. She will need strength to properly care for her numerous and active offspring.
Hygiene
Place a container with wood ash or sand near the nest. A wooden box or a regular bucket works well as a container.
So, we found out how you can put a chicken on eggs. In principle, the work is not difficult - in any chicken coop there is usually a female who can become a full-fledged hen.
If there is no such individual, the article provides simple ways to force a bird to hatch its offspring. The main thing is to be patient and arrange the nest correctly, and after a short time everything will definitely work out.
The brood hen is valued by breeders as it allows chicks to be hatched without extra effort. In addition, young animals from under the black opus are more resilient.
Hatching chickens in an incubator is carried out in the absence of a chicken with good brooding instincts or when it is necessary to produce a large number of young at one time.
To hatch chicks under a brood hen, you need to choose the right bird and provide her with all the necessary conditions for breeding offspring.
How to choose a hen?
Raising chickens under a hen requires the right choice chicken. If the female’s instinct is not developed strongly enough, she will leave the nest at any moment and the whole thing will be ruined, since the incubation material will harden and the embryos will die.
The hen's brooding instinct peaks in the spring.. Taking this into account, the selection of a hen and its placement on the nest should be carried out precisely during this period. If the weather is warm, the chicken will be able to raise their young on a free range, which is especially beneficial for chickens.
Finding a hen with bait (video):
A hen ready to hatch chicks has the following behavioral characteristics:
- begins to cluck loudly while sitting on the nest after laying eggs;
- stays in the nest longer than usual - with a particularly strong instinct, the chicken can sit on the nest for days on end;
- shows aggression when the owner tries to forcibly drive her away from the nest;
- is busy collecting eggs - she collects for herself all the eggs that other chickens lay, and which she manages to drive to the place chosen for nesting.
No matter how obvious the signs are that a hen will sit on eggs, you should not immediately place a hatching egg under it. More reliably, to be completely sure of her intentions, place several dummies under the female and let her sit on them for 2-3 days.
If during this time the black whale does not leave the nest, it can be trusted to hatch high-quality material.
The health of the bird is of great importance. Even if a chicken has a strong instinct to hatch, but is not completely healthy, it is unacceptable to use it to hatch chickens. In such a situation, it is better to hatch chickens in an incubator at home. It is very convenient to use for this unit “Ideal hen”».
In order for raising chickens with a hen to be as successful as possible, you should provide her with comfortable conditions. The nest site should be quiet and secluded so that the quotation is not distracted from its main task. To prevent rats from destroying the nest, it is made elevated above the floor.
There is a requirement for the size of the nest. Compliance with it is very important, since if the bird is cramped, there is no guarantee that the chicken will sit in it for the required period. If the nest, on the contrary, turns out to be too wide, then the eggs in it can easily roll out, and some of them will be lost by the hen.
The nest should be 55 cm by 35 cm. You can use a plastic, wooden or cardboard box for it. The bottom of the nest should be covered with sawdust. A thick layer of hay is placed on them. Special attention you need to pay attention to the corners of the nest, since if they are poorly filled, the incubation material can easily fall into them, and the chicken will not be able to get it out of there.
The hay should be placed in such a way that a shallow bowl is formed. This way you will be able to make the most comfortable nest, which the hens will quickly fall in love with.
Hen nests mounted on the wall
The sides of the nest should be low, because if the female jumps over them, she will easily crush the eggs. When a quonka sits on eggs, it needs rest, and therefore the entrance to the nest is curtained with light but dense fabric. This will provide the bird with the most comfortable conditions possible.
You should not place several nests in one room, because if chickens sit on eggs nearby, confusion easily occurs, which is why fights begin in the nests, during which the eggs are crushed.
It is no longer possible to finish the nest after the chicken has settled in it. Therefore, everything should be carefully prepared in advance, knowing exactly how to do it correctly.
A convenient nest can be made from a plastic bucket
During natural incubation chicken eggs, you can only change (if necessary) the contaminated litter when the hen leaves the nest to eat.
Egg selection
In order to lay high-quality eggs under your chicken, you should be able to choose this material correctly.
The criteria for selecting eggs are as follows:
- Size- high-quality material should not be small or large. It is necessary to take only medium-sized eggs, since it is in them that full-fledged embryos develop.
- Form- you can only lay down material that does not have shape defects.
- Yolk fixation- when viewing an egg with an ovoscope, if the yolk is in good condition, you can see that when you turn the egg over, it turns with it without changing its position (does not float away to another place).
- Term- good eggs for hatching chickens should be no older than 1 week.
- Integrity- an egg that is planned to be used for breeding must not have cracks in the shell.
- Quality of the parent stock- if you receive material from birds older than 3 years or younger than 1 year, then the number of low-quality eggs and, accordingly, non-viable chickens increases significantly.
- No inclusions- detected using an ovoscope. Inclusions are visible in the contents of the shell as dark spots.
Checking eggs with an ovoscope before laying (video):
In addition to the rules for choosing material, you need to know how many eggs you can put under the chickweed. Their number is determined by the size of the bird. She should be able to cover the entire clutch with her body. The eggs should not stick out from under the quonk, looking out from the sides among the feathers.
In order for the chicken to feel good and the hatch to be of high quality, 8 to 15 eggs should be placed under it.. If the natural incubation of chicken eggs does not proceed correctly, and too much material is placed under the hen, she will throw out the excess and some of the eggs will be lost.
How to make a bird sit on eggs?
If there is no hen ready to sit on eggs on the farm, you can try to force the old bird to sit on the nest. To do this, ideally take one that has previously had experience in hatching chickens.
To do this, you need to put several dummies of eggs in the nest and, having placed the selected bird on them, cover it with a basket, from under which it cannot get out. The chicken is kept under a basket for 5 days. During this period, she is allowed out only 2 times a day for 20 minutes to eat and drink.
If during this time the bird’s instinct awakens, then she will start clucking and sit on the eggs, not wanting to leave the nest and after the basket is removed from it. In this case, you can safely put eggs under it. Such a hen will not leave the nest until she hatches her chicks.
Poultry farmers know that not every chicken can be made into a hen. Therefore, to be on the safe side, it is still advisable to have an incubator in which you can place eggs if the chicken lays them.
Caring for a mother hen
The nervous system of a chicken during incubation is very susceptible to stress, and therefore if any rule on how to care for it is violated, the bird may get scared and try to run away from the nest.
Available various tips about what to do for the hen, but most of them have no practical use. It is best to follow the above recommendations, which are optimal.
Feeding the quonka
Feeding the chicken during the period of hatching eggs is the same as during normal times.. In order to hatch chicks, the hen must remain in good condition, so if her nutrition is lower than usual, this will negatively affect her ability to hatch eggs.
In addition to the food that the bird will receive while walking, it must also be provided with constant access to food by placing a small feeder with grain near the nest; there is also a drinking bowl, which should be especially stable or nipple-type.
If for some reason food gets into the nest, then as soon as the hen leaves it, it needs to be put in order.
How long does it sit?
How many days a hen incubates her eggs depends to some extent on environmental conditions. Normally, hatching should occur at 21 days.
If the weather is cool, even the chicken’s high body temperature is not always able to provide optimal conditions for the development of the embryo, and then hatching may be delayed by 2–3 days, which is the norm.
When the weather is too hot- chicks appear a day earlier. Thus, it is impossible to say in each specific case how long a chicken hatches its offspring with 100% certainty.
Chick development monitoring
In order to control the development of the embryo in the egg, ovoscoping is necessary. This is the only way to make sure that the chicken is developing normally and that the bird sat on the eggs for a reason.
Transillumination with an ovoscope
The ovoscope allows you to see the development of the embryo through the shell. It is necessary to enlighten the eggs on days 10, 15 and 19.
In order to understand how well the embryo is developing, you should use a special table that shows what the picture should be like. If it does not meet the standard, then the egg is unsuitable for further incubation.
They also place eggs under the chicken after ovoscopy to immediately eliminate bad ones.
The chicks usually hatch together. If this does not happen, then the chicks that appeared first should be placed in a cage with a heater. Such a cage should be built in advance.
If the first chicks are left with the hen, she may leave the nest with them, abandoning the remaining eggs.
As a result of this, the chicks in them will die without hatching, and the work of several weeks will be partly wasted. You won't be able to force a chicken to sit back on abandoned eggs if you don't pick up the chickens.
Advantages and disadvantages of breeding chickens with whooping hens
Natural breeding of chickens by brood hens has its pros and cons. Its advantages are:
- stronger young animals;
- no incubator costs;
- no hassle in raising young animals - the hen raises the chicks herself.
Disadvantages of raising chickens this way:
- the risk of the bird’s unauthorized premature departure from the nest;
- inability to lay a large number of eggs at once;
- Not every chicken has a developed brooding instinct.
The hen and the chicks are best option, but not always feasible.
The best brood hens by breed
Depending on the breed, the bird's instinct to incubate changes. Which chickens are the best hens is determined by the breed. Representatives of the following breeds sit on eggs more often than others:
- Kuchin anniversary,
- cochin,
- gate,
- Welsumer.
Females of other breeds also sit on eggs, but this happens less frequently. The brooding instinct is least developed in egg-laying hens, which have an annual laying of 200 eggs.
Video
Raising chickens under a hen is the best option for a private backyard, and therefore you should not refuse it if you can pick up a hen.
Eggs must be hatched in the spring. At this time, the chicken’s natural instinct to procreate is best demonstrated. But many novice farmers often have a question: how to put a chicken on eggs? This is exactly what we will look into in today's article.
Mother hen's choice
When planting in the spring, the most comfortable conditions for the growth of chicks will be created, because the main period of their growth will be in the summer and early autumn, that is, in the warm period of the year. The poultry farmer is recommended to carefully observe the behavior of the chickens for some time in order to choose a future hen who is ready to hatch chickens. Choosing the right hen at home is not difficult.
A hen that has already developed the brooding instinct can be recognized by a certain type of behavior: it clucks, sits in the nest for a long time, and leaves it reluctantly and briefly. In addition, such a chicken often plucks down and feathers in order to organize a cozy nest for future chickens. Thus, for brooding, you need to choose a hen that already has the brooding instinct.
If there is none, then you need to place several decoy eggs in the nest and watch it for a week. Most often, within a week, one of the birds will develop a brooding instinct and sit on the nest. After a few days, when the bird is already accustomed to incubation, it is necessary to replace the decoys with real eggs. This must be done so that the chicken does not see it. The eggs are placed either behind, under the tail, or replaced when the hen is not at the nest.
There is another way to force a hen to become a hen and successfully hatch chicks. To do this, choose a nest that is located in a dark place and place decoys there. Then you need to select a hen that has previously had experience in hatching offspring and place it in the nest. After a few days, in almost all cases the chicken will begin to cluck. But sometimes this does not happen, then the bird should be replaced.
Chicken landing
It’s not difficult to plant a chicken on eggs at home; to do this you need to do a few things: simple actions. First of all, it is important to properly organize the nest. It should be in a fairly quiet place, the bird should be comfortable in it. But at the same time, it should not be too spacious so that the eggs do not roll out during incubation. The ideal size is 55 by 35 cm.
To do this, you can use a wooden box in which straw is placed. In the future, the chicken will create comfortable conditions for brooding and insulate the area with down and feathers. It is best to cover the exit with something light so that the chicken can leave and enter the nest at any time. Then they put in the decoys - it is necessary for the chicken to get used to incubation. After a few days, the decoys are replaced with real eggs.
It is important to know that if there are several hens in one chicken coop, they should be seated as far apart as possible. This should be done in order to avoid confusion among the birds, which could lead to possible fights. After the hen is placed, she herself will be able to restore order in the nest; the poultry farmer will only need to periodically monitor it while the hen is feeding.
Selection and placement of eggs
The selected bird is taken to the nest, and if everything goes well, it begins to hatch the eggs. One of the most important points in raising chickens - proper laying of eggs. It is important to know which ones to choose for incubation. Only fresh eggs, laid no earlier than six days before laying, are suitable; they should not be broken or dirty. It is better to take medium-sized specimens, because small ones often have an inferior embryo, while large ones can contain two embryos.
It is important to correctly determine the required number of eggs to lay - it directly depends on the build of a particular bird. The quantity must be selected in such a way that the chicken covers them all, provided that they are located in one layer. If the chicken is large enough, then add 13 to 15 pieces.
During the hatching period, you cannot add more eggs, because after the first chicks appear, the hen will leave the nest. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the chicken copes very well with hatching eggs and other birds.
Features of caring for a hen
Proper care of the hen during the brooding period contributes to the successful hatching of chicks. When raising chickens at home, it is important to maintain the correct temperature conditions. The room should be heated from 15 to 20 degrees, the optimal air humidity is 75%. It is important to ensure that the bird leaves the nest at least 1-2 times a day to eat and drink. It is also important that she takes walks between hatching sessions.
If the hen does not want to leave the nest, then you should move her outside for a walk and feeding. At this time, it is recommended to cover the eggs with something. The duration of the walk is usually from 15 to 20 minutes. If after this time the chicken does not come back, you should move it there yourself.
During walking and feeding, you need to inspect the nest and clean it of dirt. You should carefully check the eggs: sometimes you come across broken or crushed ones - they should be removed. Sometimes a hen throws several eggs out of the nest - these should also be removed. It is important to organize the chicken coop so that the feeder and water container are nearby. Feeding the hen usually includes mixed feed, root vegetables and green grass (for example, chickweed).
The most important stage of incubation is the first days. During this period, it is recommended not to disturb the bird or force it to leave the nest. The entire incubation process usually lasts from 19 to 22 days. After the chickens are hatched, they are placed in a warm room in a box and covered with gauze or netting. The hatched chicks are released to the hen after incubation is over.
Video “Natural incubator”
In the presented video you can see how you can remove a hatched chicken without disturbing the hen.
Chickens by nature are prone to brooding. But in modern farming, when the productivity of laying hens is important to the farmer, such natural instincts are undesirable. In today's article we will tell you what to do to prevent chickens from sitting on eggs.
Do you need a hen?
When a hen remembers her maternal instincts and begins to lay eggs, she stops laying eggs. The bird is reluctant to leave the nest, creating the ideal temperature for future chicks to mature. The desire to hatch offspring may arise after intense egg laying. This is due to natural needs, despite the fact that several generations of chickens can be hatched in incubators.
To ensure that the chicken does not become a hen, but continues to lay eggs, poultry farmers use various methods. Some are humane, others not so much, but what to do, because many put main goal for chicken high productivity. A chicken that does not lay eggs does not generate income for its owner if he makes money from the sales of this nutritious product.
And sometimes it happens that the chicken changes dramatically in its desires. She can sit in the nest for a couple of days and then abandon the clutch. Therefore, to avoid turmoil in the chicken coop, poultry farmers choose the calmest individual to play the role of hen. She is given eggs that need to be hatched, and in other hens the desire to breed is eliminated at the first sign. This must be done decisively, without harming the quotation itself.
Method 1. Use old-fashioned methods
- Rinse the chicken with cold water. The kvochka is completely doused or dipped in a basin of cold water. The fact is that the bird’s body temperature rises during the incubation period: this way it ensures the optimal temperature for the maturation of future offspring. To prevent chickens from sitting on eggs, people lower their body temperature with cold water.
- Deprive her of food. Some poultry farmers believe that a hunger strike helps discourage the desire to brood. The chicken is not given food for several days, after which it, being in a state of shock, stops clucking.
- Put him in prison. The chicken is placed in the basement for several periods to deprive it of a comfortable habitat. As you know, chickens love light, so the room should be dark. At night, chickens are less active, which will allow them to forget about their awakened instincts. The quonka is also fed in the dark.
All these methods, despite their popularity among the people, are not very effective. They help some, but for others, all tough attempts to dislodge the hen from nesting end in failure: the hen, after several days of torment, returns to incubation. Sometimes the method works against the owner: the chicken not only stops hatching, but also stops laying eggs for a long time.
In addition, these methods are very cruel to a living being, and can even lead to dire consequences. For example, dousing a bird ice water, you can provoke respiratory tract disease in her. And prolonged starvation and keeping in the basement can not only weaken the chicken’s body, but also lead to death.
As a result, using cruel and irrational methods, you can destroy your laying hens. Therefore, such techniques should be treated with great caution. Even if your neighbor claims that going on a hunger strike helped him keep the chickens away from the nest, it won't necessarily work in your case. To discourage hens from incubating, modern poultry farming uses more gentle methods. We'll talk about them further.
Method 2. Place in a cage
There is a great way to get your hen to lay eggs again rather than sit and hatch eggs. This method is the most effective among all existing ones, and it is also more civilized. To use it, you should make a small cage, the sides measuring about 70 centimeters. As soon as you notice that the chicken begins to cluck, immediately put it in this cage.
The chicken should be removed as early as possible. In order to notice the first signs of a hen in time, keep an eye on individuals that have been particularly active in laying eggs lately. The chicken plucks the feathers on its belly to line its nest and clucks when people approach it. This means she is getting ready to hatch her eggs. If you don't want this, it's time to take active steps to stop brooding.
During the day, place the cage with the bird among its relatives. She must be among actively laying hens. If you do not want the chicken to be outside, leave the cage in a bright and ventilated place. At the same time, provide the quotation with increased nutrition. Make sure she eats enough food and water.
It is advisable to make a cage with a mesh bottom. This way the chicken will feel more comfortable, because it is closer to natural conditions. In addition, this will make it more difficult for the hen to warm up the area underneath her. It is also important to extend daylight hours: during longer daylight hours, chickens lay eggs better and more actively.
2-3 days after being kept alone in a cage, add an active rooster to the hen. Perhaps already at this time the hen is ready to be fertilized, and such a forced community will only speed up the process. After another couple of days, by the end of the day, place the hen on the roost. Let her spend the night among the other chickens. If the bird leaves the coop the next day, it means that its brooding instinct has passed.
The experience of many farmers shows that within a few days after laying, chickens begin to lay eggs again. Although before this they did not lay eggs for 2 or 3 months: this is how long the quons nurse their offspring. You can easily check the effectiveness of the method yourself. Moreover, it does not require special effort and costs. You just need to be a little more attentive to the hen.
However, there are also stubborn hens who, even after several days of isolation, continue to perch on the nest. What to do in such cases? First of all, collect eggs often. One of their appearance contributes to the emergence of maternal instincts in laying hens. The laying procedure can be extended for a few more days to ensure that the chicken is weaned from the ability to sit on eggs.
Method 3. Do shock therapy
There is another method to discourage a chicken from the nest. It's called shock therapy. To do this procedure, you will need a step-down transformer. A charger for car batteries is perfect. Clamps are soldered at the ends of the wires; if there are none, you can make ordinary plates.
One end of the electrical cord is fixed on the comb, the other is inserted into the mouth or secured to the stem. Set the voltage to 12 volts, no more, and turn on the current for half a minute. After half an hour you need to do another approach.
This procedure should be done very carefully so as not to kill the bird. She may lose her breathing and heartbeat for a few seconds. So you should use such methods only in extreme cases.
Video "Hen-hen"
Do you want to see how a hen hatches her offspring? Watch the video.
