Lesson #13 Breeding & Raising Free-Range Chicken! Leave The Eggs In The Nest To Stimulate Hens To Hatch

The problem faced by many free-range chicken farmers is the belief that free-range hens do not sit on their eggs to hatch.
Actually, they do hatch their eggs because it is their nature and that is proven by my Manok Pinoy hens.
Chicken farmers have to understand the brooding habits of hens.
If you take out the eggs from the nest daily and leave nothing behind, chances are the hens would not realize that she had laid enough eggs for her to hatch.
In my farm, I have yards where I collect the eggs daily because I do not like the hens to get broody and sit on their eggs.
That would mean 21 days of sitting on the eggs and another 60 days of carrying the chicks.
But when I produce my breeding materials, I usually single-mate them, meaning one rooster to one hen to make sure that what I will produce will just be coming from them.
The pair is placed in a pen with a nest where the hen lays her eggs which are just left in the nest until she had produced about 10 or 12 and she becomes broody.
The sight of the eggs in the nest is actually what makes the hen realize that she had produced enough eggs and stimulates her to become broody.
When she starts sitting on her eggs, the rooster is taken out of the pen so that she will not be disturbed.
I hope this tip helps.

#farmisthebestclassroom!