- Oct 15, 2012
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I am hoping someone will be able to advise me on the likelihood of a successful hatching. I recently purchased some fertile eggs for my silkie hens. One of the hens has been sitting on nine eggs for the past eight days. This afternoon when she got off the nest for her regular quick feed I noticed a yellow patch on her lower front feathers. I was worried that one of the eggs had exploded but there was no bad smell, so then I thought she might have broken one of the eggs, as she has kicked out most of the hay and the eggs are siting directly on the wooden boards of the nesting box. There was no empty shell that I could find either. So, much to my hen's disgust, I plucked two of the eggs out from underneath her tonight and attempted to candle the eggs. I've never done this before so I'm not sure what to make of it all. I just used the torch on my phone, so probably not ideal, but what I could see on both eggs was a visible air pocket and a dark area that took up about half the egg lying horizontally. So what I am wondering is does this indicate little chicks might be growing? Also, the eggs were covered in yolk from the broken egg - will his have any effect on the eggs as I have read that bacteria can penetrate eggs easily? the eggs are also sticking to the hen's feathers, so I'm hoping this doesn't result in more broken eggs with them sticking to her when she gets up, and then fall off and smash. I am very much a novice in this area, so any advise would be greatly appreciated.
