Broody hen spilled water all over..

[sara1226]

I'm hoping to get some thoughts on this, as many of my past posts didn't get many replies.

I have a broody hen sitting on two eggs. She is in a broody cage in my house (can't hatch eggs outside, it has been below zero out until recently). She is on day 15. I was gone for 3 hours today and when I came back she had spilled her water all over and she was wet underneath her and the eggs felt cold.

Am I to assume these will not hatch now because the temperature probably dropped?

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated, as I have some eggs in an incubator and that isn't going well either. Maybe egg hatching just isn't for me. Not sure I will ever do this again.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

Sorry to hear that. Did you replace the nesting materials so they aren't wet?

Good news is, this doesn't mean they will necessarily die, though it wouldn't be a big surprise if they did either. If you candle in a few days you should be able to tell if they'll hatch or not. Don't let some hard experiences keep you away from hatching eggs; it happens to the best of us, and hatching is a very rewarding experience.

For future reference, always keep water away from the nest so that things like this don't occur. I'm sure you've already got that though.

What are your incubator problems?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Only time will tell.

Can you put the broody cage somewhere where you can leave the door open with the food and water on the outside?
Maybe put some newspapers down. She'll only come off the eggs once a day if that and she won't go far.

 

[sara1226]

Sorry to hear that. Did you replace the nesting materials so they aren't wet?

Good news is, this doesn't mean they will necessarily die, though it wouldn't be a big surprise if they did either. If you candle in a few days you should be able to tell if they'll hatch or not. Don't let some hard experiences keep you away from hatching eggs; it happens to the best of us, and hatching is a very rewarding experience.

For future reference, always keep water away from the nest so that things like this don't occur. I'm sure you've already got that though.

What are your incubator problems?

How will I be able to tell if they will hatch or not?

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

How will I be able to tell if they will hatch or not?

At this point, you can't. If you candle around day 18, you should be able to tell if the chicks are alive, though it might be hard. Don't throw them out unless you notice a rotten smell or they're leaking.

But you won't know for sure until they hatch. You are late in incubation, so hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. Please let us know what happens!