Hello everyone! My husband, and I have 17 chickens. 16 hens, and 1 rooster! I was raised, raising chickens so it's not all totally new to me, but some times doing things first hand on your own, you're not sure what to do, lol.
So, I had one of my best Buff hens go Broody for the first time about 35 days ago, and I was so excited! She had about 6 eggs to start which I marked with a blue X, then I noticed some of the other hens would jump in the box with her, and lay a few eggs, so I lost track of which eggs were whose, other than the ones with the X's, she ended up with 12! So I just left all the eggs there, and figured if she's already sitting maybe will get more chicks than we thought. She has done very good at sitting, she rarely moves other than once every few days to eat, and drink. After a few days I noticed a few eggs were missing, and thought maybe she had eaten them, and brushed it off. After about a week I saw that ALL the eggs with the bkue X was gone, but she is still sitting, and with 4 eggs under her still. I candled the eggs a few times, and saw the air sack at the bottom, and the rest was too dark for me to see through. One that I candled was lighter than the others with a dark spot in it which was the eye. I called my grandma who has chickens all her life, and let her hens lay, and sit, and asked her, because my husband, and I noticed that from the time I told him about the blue X's til now has been 35 days which is way over how long it takes eggs to hatch, and I am becoming worried, and do not know what to do. When I talked to my grandma she said to take the lighter of the eggs, and crack it to check if it is fertile, or if a chick is developing. I was little unwilling at first, but decided it was best. So I cracked the egg, and an embryo about 14 days old came out. It was not moving or anything, so I am not sure if it was already dead, or what. The rest of the 4 I put back with the hen that are the dark ones that all you can see if the air sack. So I guess what I am asking is, is it possible that these eggs are still alive, and from a different chicken, or laid at a later time than her original eggs with the X's?
So, I had one of my best Buff hens go Broody for the first time about 35 days ago, and I was so excited! She had about 6 eggs to start which I marked with a blue X, then I noticed some of the other hens would jump in the box with her, and lay a few eggs, so I lost track of which eggs were whose, other than the ones with the X's, she ended up with 12! So I just left all the eggs there, and figured if she's already sitting maybe will get more chicks than we thought. She has done very good at sitting, she rarely moves other than once every few days to eat, and drink. After a few days I noticed a few eggs were missing, and thought maybe she had eaten them, and brushed it off. After about a week I saw that ALL the eggs with the bkue X was gone, but she is still sitting, and with 4 eggs under her still. I candled the eggs a few times, and saw the air sack at the bottom, and the rest was too dark for me to see through. One that I candled was lighter than the others with a dark spot in it which was the eye. I called my grandma who has chickens all her life, and let her hens lay, and sit, and asked her, because my husband, and I noticed that from the time I told him about the blue X's til now has been 35 days which is way over how long it takes eggs to hatch, and I am becoming worried, and do not know what to do. When I talked to my grandma she said to take the lighter of the eggs, and crack it to check if it is fertile, or if a chick is developing. I was little unwilling at first, but decided it was best. So I cracked the egg, and an embryo about 14 days old came out. It was not moving or anything, so I am not sure if it was already dead, or what. The rest of the 4 I put back with the hen that are the dark ones that all you can see if the air sack. So I guess what I am asking is, is it possible that these eggs are still alive, and from a different chicken, or laid at a later time than her original eggs with the X's?
