Eggs not hatching what to do

[shardean]

I have 2 hens on 18 eggs. They are co sitting. They have been really good and take turns for maybe 30 minutes off...but one is always on. The first hen started sitting the night of April 4th...other hens kept laying eggs in her nest. There were 24 eggs under her, and the other hen had started co sitting around the 9th. I moved them into their own coop around the 10th to stop the other hens from laying in their nest. I put the left over 6 eggs in my bator. Nothing has hatched..and yes I have roosters! Eggs are fertile! I think that it is strange that not one egg has hatched...even in my bator. I will give it a few more days, anyone have any ideas why none would hatch? The main question is in a few days when I take the eggs what would happen if I slipped a couple of chicks from the store under the hen? might she accept them? The little cochin hen is a real good mom. The chicks might be a week old already. Thank you!

 

[shardean]

So no one has tried putting chicks not hatched by the hen under the hen? Does incubation sometimes take a little longer under a hen?

 

[bobbi-j]

So, if my math is right, they have been incubating for 24 days? If the hen started setting on all of them on the same day, they should have hatched 3 days ago. If you don't know if they've all been incubating for the same time, give it a little longer if you want, just in case some are getting close. If they haven't hatched in another 2 or 3 days, I'd give it up. I have bought chicks at the feed store and slipped under a little banty cochin who's eggs didn't hatch. Rooster here, too, but for some reason none of the 8 eggs she sat on developed. She was a good little broody, so it wasn't any neglect on her part. Anyway, I bought 8 chicks (same number of eggs she was setting on, but I doubt she knew how to count -that was more for my sake than hers), kept them in a box in my laundry room until night, went in and swapped out her eggs for chicks. She was a very proud mama and accepted her babies with no problems at all.

 

[shardean]

thanks..the main hen is a little banty cochin...she is very sweet. I think she would be OK..The other hens kept laying eggs in her nest for 5 or 6 days before I moved her and her sitting buddy. the hen co sitting with her is a first timer..that is why I'm giving them a few more days.

 

[bobbi-j]

For future reference, next time you get a broody, if you don't have a way to separate her from the flock, mark the eggs you want her to hatch and then daily check and remove extras from the nest. I've never had good results leaving a broody with the flock, though. Usually the eggs end up getting broken from other hens crowding into the nest to lay.