We understand how much a chicken incubates eggs and what conditions it needs to create for this

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Chickens are useful pets that require relatively little to care for. But the profit from their life is quite large. These are eggs, and meat, and if necessary, then feathers on pillows. Moreover, chickens can also reproduce their own kind by incubating eggs. An interesting question is how long does a chicken incubate eggs and how quickly can you get chicken offspring.

How to spot a mother hen

Before you figure out how much a hen incubates eggs, you need to know how to properly distinguish a hen from a laying hen. After all, not every individual will be able to provide the necessary development of the embryo in the testicle. To determine the mother chicken among all the chickens, you just need to look closely. The mother hen is distinguished by a slightly elevated body temperature (in order to be able to warm the eggs), the color of the scallop (it darkens in her). Also, the bird begins to make specific sounds (constantly clucking) and plucks feathers on its stomach. If all of the above signs can be seen in one chicken, this is definitely a hen.

Timing

So, how many days do chicken eggs incubate? The answer is simple: it's only three weeks, ie. 21 day. During this time, the chicken heats the eggs with her body so much that at the end of this period, small yellow chickens hatch from them. It is also worth knowing that not all eggs will immediately show bird babies. The process takes about a day. It is not worth helping the hen to peel the chicks from the shell at this time, she will do just fine on her own.

Conditions

Having figured out how much the chicken incubates eggs, you should first think about how to provide her with a convenient place for this. After all, this process is far from simple and time-consuming. For convenience, it is better to move the chicken away from the rest of the flock so that no one bothers her. The place where the hen will incubate eggs should be warm, dry, ventilated. In the container itself, where the chicken will sit, it is better to lay soft hay. This will keep her comfortable and the eggs warm. In addition, the chicken sometimes leaves the nest for a while to eat and take care of its natural needs, and during this time the testicles should not cool down. Therefore, the time of her walk should not be more than 10 minutes. But if the chicken refuses to go out at least once a day, it must be forcibly removed from the nest in order to feed, drink and take a little walk.

Offspring

Knowing how much a hen incubates eggs, it is worth thinking about the optimal number of babies a hen can warm. It is better to place no more than 15 testicles in a clutch. Otherwisechicken heat is simply not enough for everyone. If a hen throws an egg out of the nest, it must be removed immediately. This means that the embryo does not develop, and the egg is simply dead. But it's better to touch it first. If it is warm, the mother hen can still return it to the nest. If it is cold, it must be isolated immediately.

Care

Having figured out how long a chicken incubates eggs, and having already waited out this process, it is also important to take care of small chickens in the first days. The first chicks can either be left with their mother or resettled for a while until all the offspring hatch. When resettling, you need to build some kind of nest where the chickens will be warm and comfortable. You can feed them with a finely chopped boiled egg, drink some water. And only when all the babies are born, they can be given to the mother chicken for education.