how long?

[gemma24]

my broody hen was off her eggs for about 35 min, do you think the eggs are still alive? the eggs are about 18 days.

/

 

[nchls school]

my broody hen was off her eggs for about 35 min, do you think the eggs are still alive? the eggs are about 18 days.

/

Yes. There is a very good chance the eggs are still alive at that stage.

 

[dekel18042]

my broody hen was off her eggs for about 35 min, do you think the eggs are still alive? the eggs are about 18 days.

/

That won't kill them. In fact it is natural (Unless there was some other problem with the eggs.) I sometimes use an incubator and from day 8 until day 18 it gets turned off from 30 minutes to 2 hours (Once I forgot to turn it back on and it was off longer---no problem) every day. Once the eggs are in lockdown the incubator is kept on. Supposedly you have a higher hatch rate doing this. Hatch rate with my own eggs is near 100%.
A hen will leave her nest to eat. Usually towards the end when she can feel movement and hear peeping she'll sit tighter.