How to Candle Eggs That Are Under Broodies.......

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drdoolittle

drdoolittle

Crowing
14 Years
Jul 30, 2010
1,408
54
311
NE Indiana
and not get the broodies too upset? I have 3 hens that are sitting on several eggs------really too many eggs-----and I know some are bad (I can smell them when I check on them). If I candle the eggs, should I do it at night, or is any time of day o.k.? I don't want to upset the mommies too much and have them leave their nests----but I definately want to get the bad eggs out and give the rest a better chance to hatch.

Edited to add: The eggs are around day 15. Unfortunately, the day they are supposed to hatch is the day I go back to work.
hmm.png
Hopefully they will hatch on the weekend. I'm not sure of the exact day-----we were on vacation when the hens started sitting. This was entirely accidental----the person I hired to take care of all our beasts didn't know to collect the eggs (I probably forgot to tell him).
 
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I bring a tactical LAD flashlight out to the coop at night. I just take the eggs out one at a time, candle them and set them aside in "good egg" and "bad egg" piles. Then I shove them all back under the broody. They fuss a little but don't put up too much of a fight.

I'd suggest candling them tonight. You don't want a rotten egg to explode in the nest.

In your situation with so many eggs, I don't think the girls would complain too much if you took several eggs at a time away, candled them in a closet or someplace dark, mark the good ones and put them back. Rinse and repeat.

When I take eggs during the day, I've learned the hard way to cover the egg with the top of your hand. I've had broodies nearly peck holes in the eggs trying to peck my hand.

Good luck, let us know how the candling goes.

You've probably seen this link on candling, but just in case you haven't. Here you go!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261876&p=1
 
Thank you---yeah, I tried to candle them just half an hour ago, and it is way to light outside. The hens have about 10-12 eggs each under them! I really didn't want any more chickens this year, but sometimes the hens have different ideas. I will try bringing some inside and see how the hens react.
 
Quote:
You know you could have just took the eggs from them and removed them from the nest? They would have quit sooner or later.
Michele
 
My broody is actually pretty sweet. She hasn't tried to peck at me once. She fluffs up and kind of growls, but I haven't had any pecks, and I've checked eggs multiple times. It's funny though, when she's NOT broody, she's not one of the chickens that enjoys being picked up or petted.

Anyway, what I do to candle them is I wait til it's dark outside, then I bring a very bright little LED flashlight. Sit down right outside the nesting box, and candle them that way. The bad ones I'd set to the one side, good to the other, and go from there. Except I lack the judgement to tell definitively which ones are bad, so I end up sticking them all back under her, and then I'm disappointed when day 21 comes and goes and none hatch.
 
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Mine is too, I just used treats and fresh elderberry's, she lets me lift her and remove eggs that were laid by others. She has 4 Porcelain Duccles I set on 8/13. I hope they are all fertile my girl just started laying. I found a secret nest and and marked and then set. Some under hen and some in bator with Blue and Black Mottled Duccles.
Good Luck to all. Michele
 
mstricer wrote:
drdoolittle wrote:
Thank you---yeah, I tried to candle them just half an hour ago, and it is way to light outside. The hens have about 10-12 eggs each under them! I really didn't want any more chickens this year, but sometimes the hens have different ideas. I will try bringing some inside and see how the hens react.

You know you could have just took the eggs from them and removed them from the nest? They would have quit sooner or later.
Michele

Yes, that's what I was going to do----just throw the eggs out------but Hubby wanted to let them try to hatch them.
hmm.png



Well, I brought about 16 eggs in yesterday afternoon and candled them------I really couldn't tell if some were fertile or not (a lot of them are dark brown, light brown and blue/green). I just decided to put them all back and see what happens. The hens were o.k. with it all and I didn't get pecked once.​
 
My broody just hissed and fluffed at me, never pecked. She usually got off the nest faithfully every morning so I would snitch the eggs while she was off and go into my bathroom (no window) so it was dark to candle then brought the eggs back before she even knew they were gone. But I think she is a pretty laid back hen too.
 

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