Process of hatching chicks from hens:

1. Choose the right breed.

If you decide to use hens to hatch, you need to know how to choose the breed of hens. There are some breeds that will never hold a nest, so don't pin your hopes on such breeds! Some of the best breeds for clutching are the Ruffed Grouse, Crossbreed, Orpington and Old English Traveler.

There are many other breeds that can hold. But just because a hen can cuddle doesn't mean she's a good mother. For example, some hens hold the nest but don't stay in it all the time, so few eggs hatch.

Some hens, if frightened, may attack the chicks or abandon them after the eggs hatch. If you can find a hen that is both a good incubator and a good mother, you've got it made!

2. Know when a hen is holding a nest.

To tell if a hen is clutching the nest, look for her napping in the nest and staying in the nest at night. You can also look for a hen with bare skin on her bottom, and if she chirps loudly at people or even pecks at them, she is incubating.

If you don't know if a hen is in the incubation period, you can also test the eggs for a few days before giving them to her. You can give her golf balls, fake eggs, regular eggs, etc. to see if she stays in the nest.

3. Prepare the hatching place.

Place the hatching chick in a separate house so that it can be used for both hatching and raising chicks. Build a comfortable nest in the incubation area and put in soft bedding like shavings or straw.

The incubation site should be set up in a quiet place, out of the light, clean, isolated from the rest of the flock, free of lice and ticks, and protected from potential predators.

Allow enough room for the hens to leave the nest to eat and drink, and to move from side to side.

4. Place the eggs under the hatching hen.

When you've found a nest-holding hen and you've also prepared a place to hatch, you can place the eggs under the hen and they will hatch within 24 hours.

It is best to place the eggs at night. Don't disturb the hen or she will abandon the nest and the eggs.

Don't worry about turning over the eggs. The hen will flip them over numerous times during the incubation process.

5. Breaking the shell.

Usually after twenty days, you'll make a new discovery when you go back to the hens. You'll notice that some of the eggs are starting to develop small cracks.

After a few more days, you will notice that some of the eggs are starting to crack, the opening is getting bigger and bigger, and the chick's head is about to come out.

And in just a few days, you will notice that the chicks are coming out of the eggs by pecking through the shell.

6, hatching is complete.

Generally about a month, the chicks will come out from from the egg, if the egg does not respond, then this egg can not hatch chicks.

To this point, the hen's task of hatching chicks is basically completed, and during the first month, the hen has to take the chicks out to look for food, and the hen has to protect the chicks.

After a month, the chicks will slowly stop needing the hen, and the hen will do her job of laying eggs as soon as possible.