Poultry Keepers Podcast

Nature vs. Nurture: Hatching Chicks With Hens, Part 1

• Jeff Mattocks, and Carey Blackmon • Season 3 • Episode 127

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Thinking about letting a hen hatch her own chicks instead of using an incubator? In this Poultry Keepers Podcast episode, we explore the pros, pitfalls, and fascinating realities of hen hatching. 

Learn why some breeds—like Silkies—are famous for broodiness, how a mother hen’s natural care can boost chick survival and growth, and the environmental factors that trigger broodiness. We share practical advice on feed timing, managing aggressive flock members, and when (and if) you should move a broody hen and her chicks. Whether you raise backyard birds or manage a breeding program, this discussion will help you decide if hen hatching is right for your flock.

What You’ll Learn:
• The surprising benefits of hen-hatched chicks over incubator-hatched chicks
• Breeds known for exceptional broodiness
• Tips for encouraging natural foraging in young chicks
• How to manage hens that aren’t great mothers
• Feeding strategies to boost chick health and development

Listen now and discover how nature and nurture work together in your poultry yard at www.thepoultrykeeperspodcast.com

#PoultryKeepersPodcast #HenHatching #BroodyHen #Silkies #BackyardChickens #PoultryBreeding #ChickCare #RaisingChickens #PoultryManagement #NaturalHatching #ChickenBreeds #HomesteadingChickens 


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Alex:

Hello and welcome to the Poultry Keepers Podcast. In this episode Jeff Mattocks and Carey Blackmon dive into the often-overlooked art of hen hatching. While incubators dominate today’s poultry conversations, natural hatching is how chickens survived for centuries before technology came along. We share real-life stories, tips, and hard-earned lessons on broodiness, chick care, breed tendencies, and why some hens make exceptional mothers. From Silkies as“America’s incubator” to why feed timing matters for chick development, this conversation is packed with practical advice for anyone curious about letting nature take the lead in the coop. Now here's Carey and Jeff.

Carey Blackmon:

Tonight we're gonna talk about chicks, specifically hen hatching or using a hatcher. Several people have mentioned this to us. There's lots of stuff about incubating hatching eggs, like it's all over the place. Different this different that. Tonight we're gonna talk about hen hatching because number one, a lot of people don't do it. A lot of people are scared of it because nobody talks about it. So tonight we're gonna shed a little bit on it because yeah, it is a thing.

Jeff Mattocks:

But there wouldn't be any chickens if there wasn't hen hatching before incubators came along so

Carey Blackmon:

well. And so the first time I hen hatched was probably last year. And, I had a, I also, I raised some large fowl and I also raised some game fowl and I had a hand, it was. About this time of year, she went, Brody, and I was like, you know what I, I'm not messing with you. It's too hot. I'm gonna feed you. I'm going to change out your water. I'm gone. I let her lay on. Those are probably some of the most vigorous birds I have ever put on the ground. I think. I think they were like two, maybe three. No, they were less than a month old. And I believe I told you about it. I know I told Rip'cause I was in shock. The roost in this particular breeding pin, there's one at about two and a half feet, and then there's another one at six feet because birds love to get high, game foul don't weigh much, and they like to fly. I'm not gonna get in touch. I'm not gonna argue with'em on it. And I go out there one night to check on my birds. It's starting to get cold, and I just hear chirping, but I can't find them. I'm like, oh crap. They got out. Where are they? What are they doing? I'm looking around, and I finally, I look up to see if I can see the hen or anything, looking at'em. And they were underneath her on the roo pole, six feet up in the air. Less than a month old. Ever since then, I've been a huge believer in it. Looks like we got some other folks that's big fans of it too.

Jeff Mattocks:

Oh yeah.

Carey Blackmon:

Let's see this right here. This gets me every time, Jeff. Sue has Silkies. Yeah, and I love Sue. She just does not seem like the lady that would have Silkies because she really loves her CRE and her Rhode Island reds. And they're okay. I guess the craft curve's got the fuzzy head like the Silkies do.

Jeff Mattocks:

She's putting them to work. Okay. This is, oh yeah. This is actually a very common practice. There is, I talk to people pretty frequently, that keep silkies around because they go so broody so easy. And for the most part, they're decent, they're really decent mothers. And, they'll stay on the nest as good as any and yeah. So look, silky, I know what you, how you feel about Silky, and we're not gonna say it on air, but you know what? To each own, right? Hey,

Carey Blackmon:

They're straight up America's incubator.

Jeff Mattocks:

They're

Carey Blackmon:

incubator of the foul world.

Jeff Mattocks:

Dude, if I told you the value of Silkies, okay, we got barns here in my area that are doing. 10,000 Silkies at a time. Okay. Grow out 10,000 silkies at a time because the ethnic live bird market in New York City per, there's groups up there that prefer eating silky over anything else? All right. I ain't making this up. So there's money in Silky. Okay.

Carey Blackmon:

I know that like I, I have a line of feed that's specifically geared towards Silky and people buy it, huh? Like I, I know that they're silky are a thing, and they definitely have their place.

Jeff Mattocks:

You know why there's so many different breeds of chickens out there? Because there's so many different of people, right? Okay. So there ain't no right or wrong. Whatever works for you and you're happy, that's what you need to do.

Carey Blackmon:

There you go. Okay.

Jeff Mattocks:

So you shouldn't condemn people for their choices in chickens. There's other things you can condemn'em about, but not their choices in chickens. Just let it be.

Carey Blackmon:

I don't condemn'em for their soapies,

Jeff Mattocks:

right? It's, I'm a Turkey guy, when I retire and disappear into the wilderness, I'm gonna have turkeys. Yeah. I like their personality. They like people, they're personable. Anyway, we're getting off subject. Look,

Carey Blackmon:

Mine are very personable. They will, if you're not careful, they will trip you up when you go in there to feed'em because they're curious. They wanna know what the crap you're doing.

Jeff Mattocks:

They just, I don't know. They like people. They, and they make

Carey Blackmon:

that you raise them

Jeff Mattocks:

right when they're chicks. They'll follow you around like a dog. And

Carey Blackmon:

they will. Yeah. And they're

Jeff Mattocks:

happy. Yeah. So anyway, let's get back to incubator head hatch.

Carey Blackmon:

They're all right. Whether you love the natural touch or the control consistency of technology, we got something for everybody in this one. And it is what it is. What are the pros of letting a hen hatch their own chicks?

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah, you almost always have a higher hatch rate. Almost always have a higher hatch rate because if it's a good hand, if it's a good mother she, she stays on there, right? Her external body temperature is perfect and she's emitting body moisture, so the humidity stays on the higher side. Yeah. The big pros are when those chicks hatch, she shows'em how to eat, she shows'em where to drink, she shows'em how to act, she shows'em how to scratch the ground. She shows'em right, she shows them what chickens are supposed to do, right?

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah, that is true.

Jeff Mattocks:

The only the big winner why hens are superior to any incubator. Is the parenting factor, right? The teaching'em what to do, the garden'em, right? She teaches'em where to go, when you finally let'em out where they can free range and do their own thing, right? She teaches'em where to go, where not to go, who to stay away from. She protects'em and if she's a good, he, if your hen ain't doing that, she needs to be in the stew pot. Okay, that's, there's no if, ands or buts about it, right? But a good hand, she guards those chicks really well and there ain't nobody gonna mess with them

Carey Blackmon:

so I've actually thought about getting a grow out of Silkies because of their broodiness, because I love my Rhode Island Reds and I love my American breasts, but them son of a guns don't ever go broody. Like my, my, so most of my Rhode Island reds, if I'm outside, when they start making that chattering sound and they pop an egg out in the box they get out and they're like, what is that? What am I get that outta here And they'll, they'll look at me and be like, Hey there's something in my next box. I wanna get back in it. But you need to get that out.

Jeff Mattocks:

They will go broody. You just have to give'em time. It, so I'm try, I, for years, I'm trying to figure out what's the secret of broodiness. You know how to prevent it, how to, trigger it, whatever. And a little bit of reading in the Hubbard manual Yeah. For keeping breeders, and some other places it's we hit it, we hit like a certain heat, a certain humidity and it depends on the breed, but something in their mind triggers based on environmental conditions. Yeah. And they just go right now, like we discussed, some breeds are more prone to broodiness than others. Like the silkies not a problem. And a lot of the duck breeds not a problem, right? They're, they, it's just more of an instinct, build into'em. But,

Carey Blackmon:

People ask me to explain it. I'm like, Hey, look. That's a female, and it's a phenomenon that men are not supposed to understand. Women. I don't try to with the hands either. There's no rhyme or reason. It just is what it is.

Jeff Mattocks:

You're gonna get shot. You just, you need to stay in your lane here, buddy.

Carey Blackmon:

Hey, look, I embrace it all

Jeff Mattocks:

right?

Carey Blackmon:

Because there's no I wouldn't do it. There's no way. Another question that I see because a lot of times prepping for these, I take the questions that our viewers give us, but I also look the interwebs for questions and I see this a lot and it's, to me and probably the U2 and several people watching live now, it's funny, but I see people asking a lot, can a hen hatch eggs from other breeds?

Jeff Mattocks:

They can that any egg, right?

Carey Blackmon:

I, I guarantee you Sue Silkies aren't like, whoa, hey, that's a Rhode Island Red Egg. That's not one of mine. Get it outta here. That's not happening. I, my one thing that I do wonder though, and if somebody's done this, I'd like to know the answer, otherwise I might have to try it, but I'm curious. What would happen if a silky hatched a Turkey? And how long would it take for the Turkey to outgrow the silky?

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah, about six or eight weeks. You need to try that. I like that idea.

Carey Blackmon:

So that's perfect timing too.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah.

Carey Blackmon:

Let's look over here. Oh yeah, this one, she had a bad experience. She said her husband, her son's Banham coaching, which Banham and coaching to me just doesn't really go together'cause coachings, I don't even think banham coachings are small. But this one's squished. Three outta four chicks.

Jeff Mattocks:

See, I don't know how that's strange. Okay and I don't know anything about Kayla's situation, right? So I'm only going on speculation, but I'm wondering if the nest box was too small. Okay. That's the only thing. I'm wondering if there wasn't enough room for her to get in there, turn around enough room for her and the chicks to be comfortable. I'm just wondering if the nest box was just a little too small. So I don't know. I don't know. That would be my guess,

Carey Blackmon:

That's unfortunate. And when you've got a bird, especially a good quality show, bird that. Has the stance, the station, the color you can't help but to hatch those out and carry that on. And it really sucks that you don't have a good bomb.

Jeff Mattocks:

And maybe it was their first time too. So pulls

Carey Blackmon:

are reckless. That is true. Yeah.

Jeff Mattocks:

Pulls are really reckless. So you know, it's 50 50 with a pull hatching out. But you gotta try it to see

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah.

Jeff Mattocks:

If she's gonna be good or not. But you, when you find that good hand that meets your qualifications, you probably wanna start keeping pulls from her and hope that instinct moves forward. It, I get it to come back. It is an instinct, it is a genetic thing.

Carey Blackmon:

See, Sue says. That I think this is a two part comment. The first one is right here it says, her older reds stay by the house and they have a whole acre to explore. They don't know how to forage

Jeff Mattocks:

all. She wants them to

Carey Blackmon:

forage to be confident instead of looking at her.

Jeff Mattocks:

Okay. I'm not picking on Sue. This is for anybody else out there, but if there's food always in the feeder. For people who like to free choice feed, they for sure are not gonna go very far, right? Especially in the middle of the day. If it's hot, no shade, not enough trees. Again, I haven't seen Sue's yard, so I'm only speculating. But so one of the reasons why I am pro, limiting feed, give a, give just a little bit in the morning to wake'em up with and then give'em the bulk of their feed. An hour before they go to the roost is that stimulates them to do more foraging. And get out and look around. If the feeder's empty, they'll go looking for something to do. Feeder ain't empty. They not so much.

Carey Blackmon:

They go hit the buffet.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah. That seems to be the case for many birds.

Carey Blackmon:

Oh look, Kayla says no nest box. She thinks the hen's a few marble short.

Jeff Mattocks:

That could be right.

Carey Blackmon:

But again, you know when you got a beautiful bird. And you'll want more. You got to do whatever to get'em to carry forward.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah.

Carey Blackmon:

Let's see. Esther says, I feel like chicks are less accessible for daily handling and weighing with the broody. Mom and dad get defensive. I miss a lot of data that I should be tracking.

Jeff Mattocks:

That's a hundred percent true. Yeah. So the first two weeks you're not gonna get your data, you just leave them alone. The only way around this is you create this. Like low level feeding space for the chicks where you can put special feed, chick feed or something in there. And you can almost trap'em when they come in. If you can lure them in there, a place where mom and dad can't get to, you can lure'em in there, trap'em, and that's one way to, that's one way to get'em in. So you can collect your data, but. Yeah, just in an open environment like that

Carey Blackmon:

it's tough.

Jeff Mattocks:

A good mom. And it sounds like Esther's got really good chicken parenting going on. Yeah, they're doing their job, so you may not be able to get your data for the first two weeks. And one thing

Carey Blackmon:

that I've done is I'll take the dip net, you know that most every chicken keeper has that they chase'em around with. I'll take that. And use that to scoop mom and dad back. If you do it real gently, they don't get as uptight. And sometimes you can grab a couple of the chicks at least to be able to wing band them and grab some of your data. But Jeff said, if you wait till they're about two weeks old and they start regulating their temperature better and stuff like that, you can separate'em. And start grabbing your data better.

Jeff Mattocks:

Two weeks old, they can regulate their own body temperature. So it's fine to separate'em, put'em in a brooder somewhere depending on what your outside temperature they're doing. But look, the growth rate, okay if you're doing everything right, the growth rate of hen hatched will be incubator hatched chicks all the time. Now the caveat, one of the caveats being is as soon as they hatch, you're putting mom and the chicks on starter feed, which is a good thing, right? So we wanna rebuild her body get, put her on starter feed with the chicks, and, let her, rejuvenate herself and she may come back into We've got reports of some hen are so good that they're actually sitting on four clutches of eggs a year, right? And if they're hatching 10 out of 12 of every one of those clutches, that's 40 chicks outta one hand. That's a pretty decent number. So depending on the breed, but that's still a pretty decent number. So if you can get her back into lay and get her mated, it may not be such a bad trade off.

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah. Because, if they had, if the birds have good qualities, then at two weeks move them out, she's ready to start laying again. He probably hasn't left her alone. So you'll might be able to get another clutch. Yep. Let's see. Victor says good evening. Drop a light. Love you guys. Thanks for being here. We moved 2,600 miles away. Ooh, that's not, that can't be a fun move. Working on it, Jeff. They do get locked out of the coop after breakfast.

Jeff Mattocks:

Okay. Hopefully breakfast is limited to one ounce each and make'em work for the rest of it,

Carey Blackmon:

let's see. Victor says, I started doing that method ever since I met Jeff.

Jeff Mattocks:

I think he's talking about the feed, split the feed. Yeah, limiting the feed.

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah, probably yeah, I heard a napkin. Banum will hatch anything. I have no clue.

Jeff Mattocks:

Me either.

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah but you know that, that is definitely a Rip question. And hopefully he may see that in the comments sometime in the next few days and get back with you. Let's see. Rob said, I've seen people who use Silkies to hatch and raise all sorts of exotic pheasants. Okay. I wonder if I could get'em to raise coil.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah, why couldn't you? Okay. The silky is not All right. Be careful here. I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to

Carey Blackmon:

get some silkies just to try all this now. Okay.

Jeff Mattocks:

So here's one thing you want to be cautious of. Okay. Whatever you hatch with the silky, if you don't separate'em early enough in life.

Carey Blackmon:

Oh yeah. It just takes time and management. It takes time.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah. I, so an incubator hat. Could be right. Hypothetically, I'm gonna say it this way because it could be as good as a hen hatch if the person, if the poultry manager is gonna go visit that incubator. Eight, 10 times a day. And show the chicks where to eat and show the chicks where to drink and spend a lot of time with them and do a lot of imprinting and Right. And, but most of us still have a day job. We work somewhere, we have other things to do. We can't go to the brooder, every two hours and check on chicks. What's the hen doing all day long? She's checking on her chicks.

Carey Blackmon:

I have checked in to see if emotional support checks was a thing. Unfortunately I don't think that they actually can provide any kind of value, so it might not fly too well in, in the workplace.

Jeff Mattocks:

Come on. You can do it. You can do it.

Carey Blackmon:

I will say this, I have actually hatched them out before it worked. Yeah. And it was a hit. Everybody loved it. Yeah. It worked out.

Jeff Mattocks:

John Gunderman did it at the university, at the Sterling University with the daycare. In the daycare lab. That was a winner. Who was it in here that, took some chicks into the nursing home and did it in there and it was a hit there. I remember seeing the post on either Pulse Keeper 360 or but I know, yeah, I can't remember her name,

Carey Blackmon:

but I know it's one that's a nurse.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah.

Carey Blackmon:

Either a nurse, some type, I don't know what she does, care provider, but yeah, she's in the healthcare.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah, it was a senior. That was pretty cool.

Carey Blackmon:

Utility.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yeah, it is. So there, there is, oh look, if there wasn't emotional support from chicks, then Tractor Supply and Rural King and all those other farm stores would be out of business, man. Come on.

Carey Blackmon:

Oh yeah. I may

Jeff Mattocks:

who

Carey Blackmon:

I may do it, I may do it again. Yeah, do it. Hey, you know what I have somebody sending me, they actually will be here tomorrow, some indigo antes I think it's eight or nine eggs that they're sending me. I should definitely take them. Into the classroom and incubate'em. Yeah, that sounds, it, it's could be a good science project. One other thing that I saw a person that, I'm not gonna describe'em because people on here will know who they are, but they did a video and they suggested that you not feed chicks the first 24 hours. When you take them outta the hatcher what do you think about, not only that statement, but what would you do in the first 24 hours when you took them, let's say you were taking them outta the hatcher, or you find out that mother hen sucks at being a parent. You need to take that and do it for'em to keep the rest of the chicks. What are you doing in the first 24 hours with those birds?

Jeff Mattocks:

All right, let's back up a step. What? What is the hen doing with those chicks? As soon as the last one, as soon as she's confident that they're all done hatching, right? She goes and eats, she goes and drinks. And she is not waiting 24 hours to show those chicks and people say, oh, they got a yolk sack. They can live up to three or four days on that and they don't need, I can dig it up if somebody wants to see it, but they've already done the studies that the sooner in life that you get a check. Learning how to develop its appetite and learning how to eat and drink. The faster it grows, the faster it will develop. Okay. And they know that a chick in the first 48 hours after it arrives on a farm somewhere, actually really in the first 48 hours that. That is a critical time. There's actually something in the brain that sets their eating habit or sets their appetite. So getting them on feed as, as soon as you can. This is my opinion. But the sooner you can get'em on feed, the better they're gonna be. Okay. And I see this all the time with people who get chicks shipped. And I, on my commercial side of what I do, poultry, nutrition wise, right? People getting broiler chicks shipped all over the country, all right? So the overnight shipment, the people that get overnight chicks, like within 24 hours, 36 hours, they always outperform, and then you talk to people that the chick was stuck in the mail for three days. Mortality rates are always in the 15 to 20% range.

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah, they're definitely higher.

Jeff Mattocks:

So you're never gonna convince me that, the chick is okay for a certain length of time without food. Yes, they are. That we know that they have a yolk sack. They're good for three or four days, but I will tell you that the sooner you get'em on feed, the better they're gonna develop. A hundred percent.

Carey Blackmon:

See. My, my same, my question that I had to that person was, if it doesn't matter how soon they get feed, then that means that you feel it's irrelevant. So why do you spend so much money on feed for your breeders?

Jeff Mattocks:

John Gunterman and I keep throwing John under the bus and not really, but I'm using him as an example. He did a

Carey Blackmon:

really good study with his,

Jeff Mattocks:

He hatched quail right? In that classroom environment, but inside the Hatcher he had food and water.

Carey Blackmon:

Yep.

Jeff Mattocks:

All right. And within, he had a video of a quail that had just hatched. Just barely dried off, right? You could still see just a little bit of moisture on it from the hatch, right? It goes over and it chokes down a whole oat, okay? Now we're talking a quail chick, right? Yeah. Not a chicken chick, right? We're talking about a quail chick, and it's choking down a whole oat, right? This coarse grind feed, and no problem with it, right? That's what they're built to do. That's why they got a crop and that's why they got a gizzard,

Carey Blackmon:

that's right.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yep.

Carey Blackmon:

They'll sit, you don't have to

Jeff Mattocks:

puree it to baby food so that they can digest it.

Carey Blackmon:

Yeah. Yeah. Can you move a hen and her chicks after hatching?

Jeff Mattocks:

As far as I know you can. I've seen plenty of people do it, if they want to get it out of general population using a prison term at the point, at this point. But if they want to get'em out of, you can move'em to a protected area if you feel that they're being threatened, however. But

Carey Blackmon:

you would definitely wanna do that after they hatch.

Jeff Mattocks:

No, you don't. You'd wanna do it

Carey Blackmon:

before they hatch.

Jeff Mattocks:

No, you do you do it after they hatch, you don't do it. I would not move on hatch steaks. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Lemme make sure you don't disturb the brood. Okay? You never disturb the brood. So once she set, once she started, you leave her. Now if you need to separate'em after they hatch Yeah. She can do that. And she will rebond with those chicks and it's not an issue. But, I am not a fan of moving them out of the general population unless you see some aggressive behavior from either a rooster or another hen, right? And then, but now two things come into mind. If the hen is doing her job, she's gonna protect those chicks. And it's gonna be a non-issue, right? She's, nobody's gonna get to those chicks, okay? She's gonna do the little chirp call that she does. Those chicks are gonna scurry back to her feet and hide under her wings, and it's not gonna be a problem. And a good head knows where every chick is all the time. So you might think that this chick wandered off five feet away and mom's not paying attention. With their range of vision, mom's paying attention, right? They've got a huge range of vision. I think I saw 270 degrees range of vision compared to a human. That's only 180. Yeah. Yeah. So there's not a whole lot. And that's like way back there. That is way back there. So I'm not I think the chicks gain in their growing experience and experience, period. If they can stay in general population, but you have to know your, you have to know your flock. You have to know if they're gonna be safe or not safe. They have to be set up for success. Failure. But yeah. That's

Carey Blackmon:

one of the articles that I read while I was doing some prep for this, said that when he, when hen hatch chicks and their. Not in captivity that the chicks will start forging as early as two to three days old.

Jeff Mattocks:

Yep. A hundred percent. If they're,

Carey Blackmon:

if it's warm and they're able to,

Jeff Mattocks:

okay. In a really great environment, like the picture behind you on grass. So if we got a combination of trees, brush grass, a natural environment for a chicken. They will look, they're gonna mimic whatever mom does, right? So if the hen scratches and eats a bug, the chick's gonna scratch and eat a bug, right? And if mom eats a blade of grass, the chick's gonna eat a blade of grass. Yeah. So for people who like to do free-ranging that's huge. To let those checks go out there and experience that in that first couple weeks? Absolutely.

Carey Blackmon:

No, I was, I thought it was it was like two to three days, but then I thought about, the times that I have, he hacked. And I go out there and watch'cause I love that little chirping sound. I don't go to Tractor Supply during that season because that little chirping sound will get me in trouble. Yeah. So I'll just, hatch out my own. At least I know what I'm getting that way.

Jeff Mattocks:

Tractor Supply has nothing for a person like you. Okay. Just, yeah. Don't go there. But what would you really need to go to Tractor Supply for anyway? You make your own feed right? You've got everything you need right there already at the farm. Anything else you can probably order from Amazon, you can even order from Tractor Supply and get it delivered. You's no need to go there. Why would you give yourself that temptation?

Carey Blackmon:

The only reason that I go there is typically when the seasons change, and that's because they'll have a really good deal on their Carhartt stuff. It's not in the we, the app, but there's no chicks there at that time to get me in trouble.

Jeff Mattocks:

All right. If you go in the fall, right? Yeah. That September timeframe.

Alex:

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Poultry Keepers Podcast. Be sure to join us next week as Jeff and Carey conclude their discussion on Nature vs. Nurture. Until then keep learning, keep improving, and above all, keep enjoing the birds you love!

People on this episode

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John Gunterman

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Mandelyn Royal

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Rip Stalvey

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