broody hen pooped on eggs day 18

[blessedflockmama]

Hello! We have a broody hen who is somewhat challenged in that she insists on pooping without getting off her nest. She gets up to eat and drink but won't get off the eggs to poop. Day 18 and noticed she is not sitting on some of the eggs and that she got poop on pretty much all of them so I am thinking she is turned off by the smell. I put the eggs in the incubator as she is clearly not committed at this point.. random eggs poking out here and there. I wiped off excess poop quickly but was not sure about if I should clean them when I candle them or just leave the residue on the eggs. Please share thoughts.

 

[blessedflockmama]

The hen herself is covered in poop so I think we will be giving her a bath today. To be fair, she is in our kitchen which is not calm or quiet so she might have done better if left quietly on her own. But thinking we won't be encouraging this one to go broody again.

 

[blessedflockmama]

Just an update. I let the eggs sit in the incubator for 8 hours and then took them out and clean them with watered down and warmed up peroxide as it was the only thing I had on hand and candled the eggs. One was blank the rest looked promising. Everyone hatched and they all look very healthy. Watching the first one cuddle with the remaining eggs made me feel better about having cleaned them. I would not hesitate to clean the eggs if something like this happens again.

 

[JedJackson]

Cleaning hatching eggs is risky because you can clog the air holes in the eggs and suffocate the chicks inside. But with poop on the shells, it was a good idea to risk it, because you don't want potentially harmful bacteria in the incubator.