I posted a thread titled “Possible broody? Might have to relocate!”
This hen was off and on 9 eggs so I wasn’t sure about her commitment. She was on them at night but in the day she’d be off. I marked them because when she was off other hens would lay in that nest. I’m sure that kept them warm too. The original eggs had been laid between 4/24-4/25.
In the dead of night 4/27 I moved her and her eggs to a place she could have some privacy. 4/28 we left her alone even though she was always outside the broody coop and didn’t seem like she was into it. Later in the afternoon about 3 pm she went inside. 4/29 she was outside again. I looked in on the eggs to find she had laid 2 eggs. One must have been from the day before. Knowing she wasn’t broody I let her join the flock and collected all eggs.
I have no broody so today, 4/30, I decided that these eggs possibly were bad since they didn’t have a broody mom. I decided to cook them up for the flock. When I had one broken yolk with a blood spot I wasn’t surprised. The second broken blood spotted yolk did surprise me a bit. Then the third yolk didn’t break.
All 9 eggs had the circle ️. Broken yolks made them just look like a spot.
I don’t have an incubator or I wouldn’t have continued to crack them open after the third with a circle. I am supposing that if I had tried to wait a few days for a possible broody these wouldn’t have survived to hatch or if they did they would have been too fragile to survive. I’ll have to wait till I have my broody mama and start again. I also am supposing if I had kept the hen with the eggs perhaps she would have “accidentally” hatched them. I doubt they could have been viable AND I don’t trust that she would have raised chicks she hadn’t actually brooded with intent. She probably would have killed them.
Those of you with experience here, am I thinking correctly on this? Or could I have saved them or left them with her? I am anxious to learn.
This hen was off and on 9 eggs so I wasn’t sure about her commitment. She was on them at night but in the day she’d be off. I marked them because when she was off other hens would lay in that nest. I’m sure that kept them warm too. The original eggs had been laid between 4/24-4/25.
In the dead of night 4/27 I moved her and her eggs to a place she could have some privacy. 4/28 we left her alone even though she was always outside the broody coop and didn’t seem like she was into it. Later in the afternoon about 3 pm she went inside. 4/29 she was outside again. I looked in on the eggs to find she had laid 2 eggs. One must have been from the day before. Knowing she wasn’t broody I let her join the flock and collected all eggs.
I have no broody so today, 4/30, I decided that these eggs possibly were bad since they didn’t have a broody mom. I decided to cook them up for the flock. When I had one broken yolk with a blood spot I wasn’t surprised. The second broken blood spotted yolk did surprise me a bit. Then the third yolk didn’t break.
All 9 eggs had the circle ️. Broken yolks made them just look like a spot.
I don’t have an incubator or I wouldn’t have continued to crack them open after the third with a circle. I am supposing that if I had tried to wait a few days for a possible broody these wouldn’t have survived to hatch or if they did they would have been too fragile to survive. I’ll have to wait till I have my broody mama and start again. I also am supposing if I had kept the hen with the eggs perhaps she would have “accidentally” hatched them. I doubt they could have been viable AND I don’t trust that she would have raised chicks she hadn’t actually brooded with intent. She probably would have killed them.
Those of you with experience here, am I thinking correctly on this? Or could I have saved them or left them with her? I am anxious to learn.