brood
n. countablen. a group of young birds or other animals that were born at the same time to the same mother. It can also describe a very large family of children.
n. a group of young animals, particularly birds, produced at one hatching or birth. Often used metaphorically to describe a large family of human offspring.
The hen led her brood of chicks across the yard.
The mother duck kept a watchful eye on her brood as they swam near the reeds.
The old farmhouse was barely large enough to accommodate the widow and her entire brood of seven children, who seemed to occupy every corner of the small kitchen.
From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).
Commonly used with the preposition 'of' followed by the type of animal or children.