Are my embryos dead?

[Vadgo]

I have a barred rock that is sitting on some eggs. Because of newborn in my house, my dh had been doing chicken duties since January, and he didn't know that a hen sitting in her nest instead of the roost at night meant she was broody. So he kept taking her eggs, and she'd been incubating golf balls for who knows how long. About 8 days ago I let her start sitting on some eggs. I marked them so we would know which ones she was sitting on. Even though others pile in with her to lay eggs, she's been really good about staying in with the eggs. I decided to block her off so no other hens would bug her, and I thought I did a good job.
So I did this around 11 am yesterday. At 5 pm, my dh went to collect eggs and came in to tell me she was sitting in the wrong nest. Somehow the houdini got out and couldn't get back into her nest.
So I asked him to move her back on her eggs. She was still on them last night, and this am when I went in to collect eggs. I'm not sure how long she was off her eggs, but worst case would be all 6 hrs. Temp. outside was about 40 to 50F during that period of time.
Do you think the chicks are dead? I'm thinking of making a candler to take a look tonight but I have no idea what I'm doing. Should I see movement on 8 day old eggs?

If they are dead, I'd like to try another batch and was wondering if she'll stay on them long enough to hatch? I don't have a bator or the time to make one. I think she's been sitting for about 4 weeks now. She's persistent, but I'm afraid she won't stay long enough on a new batch if all 4 of her eggs are dead now.

I moved in the dog kennel into the coop and am going to try to move her into it. Any pointers on how to do that so I won't break her broodiness?

Thanks

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

We are in the same kind of boat! I've got my broody setting 6 days on eggs that I'm pretty sure are dead/non-fertile... I'm waiting on fresh fertile eggs to come in the mail. If I were you, I wouldn't give up. I'd candle them, then again in 2 days. see what's up. Check out the Candleing eggs sticky, it was really helpful to me.

 

[debilorrah]

A broody bird will only stay that way for a while. If she has been broody for two weeks and you put new eggs under, she probably won't see them to the end.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I had eggs get cold twice (my hen also went to the wrong nest box) and just put her back on the eggs. 1st time was day 4, 2nd time was day 7. Eggs are growing great at day 14. All you need to candle it to go out there after dark with a decent flash light (I use a mini maglight size with LED) and candle them right there. You don't need anything special. Should be obvious at this point if they are good or not...

Good luck!

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
It really depends on the hen and how determined she is. There are tons of examples of hens nearly brooding themselves to death because they had no fertile eggs and wouldn't give up for months. I'd fix the problem so her nest site is secure and then candle the eggs in a few days. As far as trying again if these eggs got too cold and don't make it I'd take a good look at your girls condition and see if you think it would be safe for her.

As an alternitive you might check at your local feed store and see about picking up some day old chicks to sneak under her one night. There's a good chance she'll adopt them (do it at night!) but it's not 100% so if you choose this route make sure you can brood them yourself if it doesn't work out.

 

[Vadgo]

Thanks Chickenducksandagoose. Good luck with yours.

Debiraymond - I'm not sure how long she's been sitting on eggs. I quit going out to the coop around December as I was too big with pregnancy and the yard was under 6 ft of snow. My DH did chores for me. I finally got out there two weeks ago and saw my hen in her nest at 10 pm. When I asked my Dh when she started sitting in her nest at night, he said she'd been doing that for a month that he could recall. The poor thing had been sitting on golfballs since my DH took her eggs every night. I tried to break her but she's stubborn, so I put 4 eggs under her a week ago. I think this one might brood herself to death if nothing hatches.

Tricia - Thanks! I just made an egg candler with an empty box of saltine crackers with a small hole on one end and a flash light. Tested on some eggs on my counter and seems to work great. I've seen the pictures of egg candling, so now I know what to look for but should I expect to see any movement in the eggs at day 8 to know if they are still alive?

Kittymomma - Any tips on how to move her with her eggs so she won't quit the new nest site? I tried it with a different hen who went broody and kept getting kicked off her nest b/c she's low status, but she freaked out so much I broke her broodiness. Now I'm afraid to move this one.
Thanks for the tip on fooling her with new baby chicks. If these eggs look good still I'll let her keep them until hatch day, and I'll candle again in a few days to see if they still are doing ok. But if they are dead, I might just sneak those peeps in. The poor thing deserves to have some babies she's been so persistent. I've never seen her leave her nest, though I'm sure she does every couple of days as there is a massive poop that looks like human size in the coop and it can only be her. But I've hand fed her a few days and give her water just to make sure she's eating something. I picked her up today to take new eggs from under her, and she feels skinny. So I won't put new eggs in if these don't make it.
If these eggs are dead, should I move her to a new site and wait a day or two before trying new peeps under her? Will she know her eggs are dead and leave the nest?

I am going to put a box in her current nest and let her stay in it for one night. Then tomorrow night I'm going to move her in the box and put her inside the dog kennel. Should I confine her to the box for one day before opening it? I'd hate to come back the next morning to see her out of the box trying to get back to her old nest. Any tips?

Thanks

 

[lockedhearts]

Quote:
If you can move her and the nest she is currently on it will be the best. Move her at dusk or when the other birds go to roost, she will likely not get upset this way. First though I think I would candle any of the older eggs and see if they are developing, if they are you should be able to judge how far along they are and can make decisions from there. I moved my broody about Day 16 into a small coop/run we set up inside the main run. She did fine, only hatched one that was under her, but I had more that hatched in the bator the same day and I slipped them under her that night.

 

[Vadgo]

Good news! I candled her eggs the other night and 3 out of 4 were moving. The 4th one might be up to 3 days younger than the other ones, so I though maybe I'd give it a couple more days to check.
There were veins and I black dots for the eyes, but I didn't see it moving. When rotated gently it would just float to the top. Does that mean the embryo is dead in this one?
I also picked her up and put a shallow cardboard box under her. Tonight I will just pick her up in the box and put her in the kennel. Hopefully that will be gentle enough, and I was going to put a towel over her while I move her. I hope she will stay in the nest. Cross fingers.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Really depend on the hens, I use gamehen to help incubate peafowl eggs. change out eggs every week, these hens will set for 3 months.
Yes they get off to eat and drink.

Now moving a setting hen after 3 weeks may break her from setting.