Wh hens Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 Hello there I was wondering weather it is a good idea to hatch a chick. i currently have a hybrid and a purebred maran she went broody twice last year so will do this year. is ti a good idea to hatch one chick from them it doesn't matter if it is a cockerel as i know someone who would take it. I can only have one hen though. nce hatched will the chick be alright with the other hen and its mother hen? any experiences of hatching is very much appreciated Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 You have a Marans cock and just one hybrid hen? Normally the hen will collect about 6 fertile eggs and then sit on them for 21 days. She will need to come out to eat of course and you may need to fetch her out. The cock will be very lonely during that time and may not survive that. Normally he will have other hens to keep him company. My advice is don't hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wh hens Posted February 7, 2023 Author Share Posted February 7, 2023 No the maran is a hen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 You can’t hatch just one chick. The first problem is that not all eggs hatch, so you would have to let the hen sit on more than just one egg. I would say a minimum of 3 to ensure at least one would hatch. Then even though you have 2 hens now, while one was sitting the other would be on her own which wouldn’t be ideal. You’ll also need somewhere suitable for the hen to sit, and then to live with the young chicks (they won’t be able to manage a ladder such as most coops have). You’d also have to get chick crumb to feed the chick(s) when it hatched. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, and the broody hen would take care of most things, and if the hen was a decent mother she would look after her chick(s) and protect them from the other hen (which may be necessary), but there is a lot that can (and frequently does) go wrong. If you really want to hatch, then do your research first so that you know what you’re getting yourself into, if you just want one more hen, you’re much better off buying a young one. Just for context, I have hatched 4 times. The last 3 in an incubator with reasonable success. The first time was under my broody hen. She attacked and actually ate the first chick that hatched, so I had to very quickly buy an incubator and brooder so I could take away the one remaining chick and 3 remaining eggs that were on the point of hatching. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
