26 days under a cochin x silkie and they passed the float test, what next?

[ALongton]

So I have fertilized eggs that are at 26 days today. They are under a sweet cochin x silkie. We had a couple pretty cold nights so I brought her inside, with her clutch, and she has warmth, peace, and quiet now. I brought her in about 1 week after she started sitting.

I obviously have concerns about the eggs actually even hatching now, so while I was out at TS I saw they had chicks for .25! I snagged 4 and had them upstairs, in our home, all evening prepping to slip them under the hen.

While I was waiting for the proper evening hour I looked into final egg tests. Tapping = no results. Float test= all 6 were viable. One even rocked itself in the water, after it and the water had settled!

My questions are, could the couple of cold nights and her being a smaller breed set back hatching dates?

How much longer should I give them... obviously one is definitely ready to go?

Finally, will there be a problem with the new chicks, that I slipped under last night, and any of her late bloomers? I do not have an incubator, but I did ask a friend if I could borrow one.....unsure of her response yet.

I don't want to let these little guys fail, if they were just stunted by the cold, especially the one that rocked itself in the water. I'm worried that the new chicks may 1. Damage her eggs 2. Hen may be to happy with new chicks and will abandon her clutch, possibly days before hatching and 3. If any hatch they could be attacked or bullied by the TS chicks.

I'm excited because of the float test results and seeing the one egg actively moving, I just don't know how many days past that point they generally hatch. I have an 8 year old daughter that is so very excited, and honestly I am too.....but also very worried.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

The new chicks could very well bully the newly hatched ones, we always keep an eye on chicks who are newly hatched to the ones who are a few hours old when doing big hatches (cause when they're just born they know nothing and the big ones already know how to run and peck and while even just on accident can be mean) Your momma may also abandon the nest, seeing that "her chicks have hatched and the eggs havent" she may move on. She also may not, and wait. Have you candled the eggs?

 

[nuthatched]

Float test should be the last ditch effort to see if the egg is alive, it could harm or kill an unhatched chick if the water is the wrong temperature.
Your purchased chicks will not hurt the eggs, however the broody might decide that the job is finished and leave the nest. the chicks could pick on the the egg chocks if they hatch but it won't be too bad and is easily remedied.

 

[50-45-1]

Did you possibly have staggered batch?
OR was it possible fresh eggs were added to the batch by other hens during three week period your broody was sitting?

 

[ALongton]

The new chicks could very well bully the newly hatched ones, we always keep an eye on chicks who are newly hatched to the ones who are a few hours old when doing big hatches (cause when they're just born they know nothing and the big ones already know how to run and peck and while even just on accident can be mean) Your momma may also abandon the nest, seeing that "her chicks have hatched and the eggs havent" she may move on. She also may not, and wait. Have you candled the eggs?

Yes, all loo

 

[ALongton]

Yes, all loo

Sorry, yes. All looked like they were dense except for the air sacs. The one that rocked, on it's own, in the warm water was totally solid.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Wait.... what? 25 cent chicks? Were they defective?

 

[ALongton]

Float test should be the last ditch effort to see if the egg is alive, it could harm or kill an unhatched chick if the water is the wrong temperature.
Your purchased chicks will not hurt the eggs, however the broody might decide that the job is finished and leave the nest. the chicks could pick on the the egg chocks if they hatch but it won't be too bad and is easily remedied.

Thanks. I figured at 26 days, with no pips in shells it would be ok to do the float test. All floated as if they were still viable, but one was rocking and rolling on it's own....in the water. When I tapped there wasn't any audible response. I candled and that one looked completely dense with no light coming through.

I'm really nervous and though I know that if a chick can't get out of its own shell it probably wasn't the most healthy to begin with and I have already experienced the heart ache of thinking that a chick had passed away in an egg, ( years ago)...checked it out and was heartbroken to find out that it was only a couple of days away and had not absorbed it's yolk completely.

I also have the energy to care for an animal that requires a little extra care, as I rehabbed a mini dachshund out of his wheel chair, helped a bantum hen fully recover from a prolapse, and have given CPR to baby goats born still inside their sac. I will happily ignore housework to save a fluffy baby. As I have these feels...I am obviously also having the urge to, " help the chick out". I'm afraid that it is going to dry out. As I could not see any air sac with candling I am feeling the urge, but I also know that it did float a little, so there should be air inside still right?

 

[ALongton]

Did you possibly have staggered batch?
OR was it possible fresh eggs were added to the batch by other hens during three week period your broody was sitting?

Well, she was in the coop for the first week and then I brought her inside for the last 2 weeks, because of our cold evenings and rude roommates. That is a possibility.

 

[50-45-1]

Ok so you have an additional 7 day period where any added eggs may still hatch.
The float test is for determining the freshness of an egg for EATING.
Please dont immerse hatching eggs in water. It removes the bloom, and may shock the chick inside to death.
The eggs in your your incubator still may hatch. Let them go to day 29 or 30 now, and use your nose and eyes to detect a rotting egg. It will smell and begin to sweat liquid out of the pores of the shell.
Good luck!