How to Breed Egg-Laying Chickens

People have different reasons for breeding chickens. They breed chickens for fun, profit, or fresh meat and eggs. Creating a flock of good egg-laying chickens is simple when a person has the right information. Breeding different types of chickens with each other increases egg production, egg size, quantity of eggs, chicken size, speed of growing and meat quality. For instance, if a white leghorn chicken breeds with a white leghorn chicken, the baby chick is a white leghorn. If a California gray rooster breeds with a white leghorn hen, the result is a sex link chicken known as a California white chicken. The male and female sex link chickens are different colors after hatching, and the females are prolific egg layers as adults.

Things You'll Need

  • Chicken coop or shelter area (or large dog house) in a fenced area
  • Plastic milk crates or laying boxes
  • Fake plastic Easter egg
  • Hay
  • 1 rooster
  • 8 to 10 hens
  • 2 chicken waterers
  • 2 chicken feeders
  • Laying chicken feed
  • Pencil
  • Chick starter feed
  • Heat lamp
  • Deep tall tub
  • Incubator
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Instructions

  1. Nature's Way of Breeding

    • 1

      Research chickens, and choose your preferred breed of chicken. All chickens lay eggs, but some lay more than others. Most of the sex link chickens are prolific egg layers. Sex links include California whites, amber links, black star and red star. Some of the breeds that lay a lot of eggs are white leghorns, Rhode Island reds, light Sussex and Plymouth Rock. If you like unique eggs, the cuckoo maran lays dark brown eggs, and the Ameraucana or Arraucana chicken lays green, blue or pink eggs.

    • 2

      Build or purchase a chicken coop. Use an old shed or large dog house or custom build a boxed area for the chickens. Fill the waterer and feeder, and place it in the coop. Put in laying boxes, or turn empty milk crates on their side for laying boxes. Put hay in the boxes in a safe, secluded area in the chicken coop. Put a fake plastic egg in each box. The chickens all lay their eggs in a community nest. For every four chickens, put one nesting box.

    • 3

      Put the hens into the coop, and let them adjust to their new surroundings. Expect some pecking and chickens chasing each other at first. Put the rooster into a separate area of the coop, or put him in a large dog crate for a day or two. This gives the rooster and hens a small adjustment period. Let the rooster out, but watch him carefully. There is always some fighting, pecking and chasing before the hens go into a submissive mode. Once the rooster mates, hens are fertile for 12 to 14 days. Let the hens lay their eggs in the laying box. Mark an X with a pencil on eggs left for hatching, and take in any eggs you want for food.

    • 4

      Leave the marked eggs in the nest. Some of the chickens get broody, and start sitting on the clutch of eggs. Broody hens leave the eggs for a short time periodically, and eat, drink or relieve herself. They sit on the eggs for about 21 days, and the chicks hatch.

    • 5

      Fill the second feeder with chick starter feed, and place the feeder and the second waterer filled with fresh water close to the chicks nesting area. You might have to show the chicks where their food and water is if the mother hen doesn't show them. The chicks will stay close to the mother hen, so it's warm and safe.

    Incubator Breeding

    • 6

      Research chickens, and choose your preferred breed of chicken. All chickens lay eggs, but some lay more than others. Most of the sex link chickens are prolific egg layers. Sex link chickens include California whites, amber links, black star and red star. Some of the breeds that lay a lot of eggs are white leghorns, Rhode Island reds, light Sussex and Plymouth Rock. If you like unique eggs, the cuckoo maran lays dark brown eggs, and the Ameraucana or Araucana chicken lays green, blue or pink eggs.

    • 7

      Build or purchase a chicken coop. Use an old shed or large dog house or custom build a boxed area for the chickens. Fill the waterer and feeder, and place it in the coop. Put in laying boxes, or turn empty milk crates on their side for laying boxes. Put hay in the boxes in a safe, secluded area in the chicken coop. Put a fake plastic egg in each box. The chickens all lay their eggs in a community nest. For every four chickens, put one nesting box.

    • 8

      Put the hens into the coop, and let them adjust to their new surroundings. Expect some pecking and chickens chasing each other at first. Put the rooster into a separate area of the coop, or put him in a large dog crate for a day or two. This gives the rooster and hens a small adjustment period. Let the rooster out, but watch him carefully. There is always some fighting, pecking and chasing before the hens go into a submissive mode. Once the rooster mates, hens are fertile for 12 to 14 days. Let the hens lay their eggs in the laying box. Remove the eggs daily, and keep them at room temperature.

    • 9

      Set up your incubator according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place it on a flat surface in a draft-free area. Place the eggs in the incubator. Set the incubator, so the temperature stays between 97 and 99 degrees. Turn the eggs two to four times a day, or use an automatic egg turner. Eggs take about 21 days for hatching. You know the hatching is near when you hear the chicks chirping inside the egg. This is called peeping.

    • 10

      Let all the chicks hatch before moving them out of the incubator. Chicks hatch within a 24-hour time period.

    • 11

      Place the chicks in a deep plastic tub with a heat lamp clipped on one side of the tub. Maintain the heat at 95 degrees the first week, and lower the temperature 5 degrees each week after that until the temperature is 80 degrees. Put the chicks outside in five weeks. By this time, the chicks' feathers develop fully, so it protects them from the weather.