Breeding season
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When to pair up where you actually live. Most breeding advice online assumes a northern spring, which is six months wrong for half the world.
Rising daylight brings hens into condition. Work back from that rather than from a date somebody in another hemisphere gave you.
Introduce nest boxes and move to a breeding diet. Hens should already be on free-choice calcium.
Most clutches land here. Chicks fledging inside this window get the best weather and the most attentive parents.
Remove nest boxes. A hen allowed to cycle continuously will lay herself into calcium deficiency and a shortened life.
Every region
| Region | Pair up | Peak laying | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Africa | July – August | September – November | February – May |
| Australia & NZ | July – September | September – December | January – April |
| South America | August – September | October – December | February – May |
| UK & Northern Europe | February – March | April – June | August – November |
| North America | February – April | April – July | September – December |
| Mediterranean & Middle East | January – March | March – May | July – October |
| Tropics (near equator) | Any time | Dry season | Enforced 3–4 months |
Before the first nest box goes up
Condition, then pair
Six weeks of a rising diet, sprouted seed and free-choice calcium before the boxes go up. A hen paired out of condition lays soft-shelled eggs or becomes egg-bound.
Two clutches, not four
Most species should raise two clutches a season. Pull the boxes after the second regardless of how willing the pair looks.
Age the hen properly
A hen breeding in her first year raises fewer chicks and shortens her own life. Wait for the second season for the small species, the third for the large.
Rest means removal
Taking the box away is not enough for a determined hen; she will use a seed dish. Shorten the day length and drop the protein as well.
Plan a season, then keep the record of how it actually went.
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