Possible Broody Pullet?

kloverdarling said:

Sadly I just lost her to a fox.

I woke up the other morning to my rooster Diesel making a horrid sound I'd never heard before. I looked outside and he was protecting his remaininng girls from the fox. I started to yell out the window and my boyfriend released our dog to chase it off.
Luckily I didn't lose anymore that day.

I am still really bummed about my Brown Chick getting eaten as well.
But we are in the mountains and we free range so that is sometimes part of it.

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kloverdarling said:

Since all the issues with predators I have been keeping them pinned and only letting them out while I can supervise their outing.

And now one of my barred rocks is broody for the first time. I was able to mark her eggs this morning while she was off her nest. Not sure for how long but she has been on it all day since this morning. I'm hoping these eggs will hatch... She spent some time off them yesterday as well.

I would count today as probably 2 1/2 days of showing signs of being broody.
Perhaps after a few more days I should change out her eggs Candle the eggs first as they quite likely will be viable.?
How long after an egg is laid can it be good to use for hatching? Is there a time limit on it? For best results eggs under two weeks have the highest hatch rate. But in the past I have had eggs a week or so older hatch. It is not all that uncommon for hens to appear with 16+ chicks hatched in a hidden nest and it takes longer than two weeks for a hen to lay that many eggs. Most hens do not lay an egg every day.

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