6 day old eggs got cold - are they dead?

[Abigrayl]

My poor broody hen got confused, sat on the wrong nest and let her eggs get cold. I have no idea how long she was off them.

Don’t worry about the how, it’s all my fault and I’ve fixed it and feel absolutely besides myself about it.

Please just tell me if I should go buy fertilized eggs or if these have any chance. It’s only 4. And this hen only hatched one last time and it died 3 days later and she just really needs to have some babies.

 

[sourland]

It all depends upon how cold and for how long. I'd let her set on them until day 10 and then candle. If they are not viable, you could always buy some day old chicks and foster them to her. Good luck.

 

[Abigrayl]

It all depends upon how cold and for how long. I'd let her set on them until day 10 and then candle. If they are not viable, you could always buy some day old chicks and foster them to her. Good luck.

What am I looking for when I candle on day 10?

Is buying day old chicks better than buying fertilized eggs?

I realize she would need to sit for 31 days if I bought fertilized eggs. Would she do that?

At what day could I put day olds under her? Do I need to wait for day 21 according to her clock?

 

[Abigrayl]

I candled them tonight. 1 looks like there’s a blood ring. 2 look like there are just yolks inside. 1 was moving around. It’s alive!!! I’m going to try get more eggs around the same age. Is that a bad idea?

 

[Willow2253]

I candled them tonight. 1 looks like there’s a blood ring. 2 look like there are just yolks inside. 1 was moving around. It’s alive!!! I’m going to try get more eggs around the same age. Is that a bad idea?

It’s going to be much easier to get some day old chicks when the surviving egg hatches then to try to find eggs on the same day of incubation. If you go that route I would put the adopted chicks under her within 24 hours of the egg hatching.

 

[Abigrayl]

So actually 2 survived but I thought the other one was dead because on day 10 when we candled it looked like it had stopped developing on day 6. But we kept it just in case. Now it’s also moving. I’m scared it’s going to hatch much later than the other one. What do I do? It’s day 14 today.

 

[neo71665]

Let the momma do her job

 

[Abigrayl]

Let the momma do her job

You’re right. I needed this. Thank you.

 

[Redemption]

You’re right. I needed this. Thank you.

When an egg is half way developed and it dies you will notice the veins go away and the red hue vanish. When their closer to hatch date than the start of incubation date the baby will take up too much room in the egg to see veins, thats usually when I start to pay more attention to movement (over the course of time) than to veins.