Are the Broody Hen's Eggs going to hatch?

[The Prancing Raptor]

Thank you so much Chicken Canoe & Jessejeanne for the good information. Your help means a lot to me! I'm just watching the situation & waiting at the moment.

No pips or bad smells as of this morning. Teacup is still getting off the nest for a very brief time & then straight back on.

I KNOW at this point the eggs have gone past 21 days of incubation so it will be interesting to see how many days it goes past 21 IF chicks are hatched. Fascinating stuff!

Thanks again everyone.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If eggs are chilled the first week of incubation, they will still hatch and will be delayed but not delayed for the entire length of time they were chilled.
Chilling the last couple weeks will usually doom them.

 

[The Prancing Raptor]

If eggs are chilled the first week of incubation, they will still hatch and will be delayed but not delayed for the entire length of time they were chilled.
Chilling the last couple weeks will usually doom them.

That is very good to know...I haven't come across that information before. Maybe I'll see some chicks after all.

I'll keep this thread updated as the situation progresses in hopes of helping others facing a similar situation.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That is very good to know...I haven't come across that information before. Maybe I'll see some chicks after all.

I'll keep this thread updated as the situation progresses in hopes of helping others facing a similar situation.

This is a good write up on temperature during incubation drawn from various research.

https://www.brinsea.com/t-PowerOff.aspx

 

[The Prancing Raptor]

I went to Cackle Hatchery today & picked up 8 chicks for Teacup. When I got home I set the box o' chicks ON TOP OF Teacup's broody house for 10 minutes (I stayed with them). The box was positioned just above/a few inches from her head & I know she could hear them chirping from inside the Cackle box.

Then I brought chicks into my house & into a brooder. I got them warmed up under a brooding plate & gave everyone food and water. After an hour and a half, evening came, I took them back outside in their box. Once again, I set the box of chicks on top of the roof to let her hear the babies chirping. After 3 minutes of this, I snuck them all under Teacup.

I'm happy to report that she immediately took them. The chicks snuggled under her & not a peep was to be heard from them or her. I was expecting the introduction to be trickier but it was an instant success. I keep checking up on them & all is calm.

When I was putting the chicks in, I took the eggs from her. I candled them & it looks like they had all "quit" at some point. I took them out to the edge of a field & left them for nature to use.

Thanks to everyone for their help & guidance. I learned a lot, have a happy hen & 8 new chicks!

 

[Tennessee Great Granny]

I am looking for some guidance, this is my first time hatching anything & I'm thinking most of these eggs are not viable...

The story:
My little, free range Spitzhauben Pullet, Teacup, went missing when we had that bitterly cold weather around January 15, 2024. Fast forward 2 weeks & I found her eating with the flock on January 30. I followed her back to her nest & found she had been sitting on 5 eggs (all are her eggs) laid directly on sheet metal surrounded by a little bit of pink fiberglass insulation. The "nest" was thankfully out of the wind. That night I moved her & the eggs into her own broody hen house with enclosure (little orange chicken coop from Tractor Supply) & she's been locked onto that clutch ever since. This is her first time going broody.

I look in everyday when she leaves & I hear no peeping, see no pips. They are always warm. No smells at all.

Counting backwards, I think yesterday should have been day 21 but that's a guess.

Maybe it was a mistake to do so, but today, I waited until Teacup got off the nest & candled them as fast as possible right there under my coat... 4 eggs look solid/dark - cannot see an air chamber.

However, one is nearly all air chamber but did NOT see movement in the dark part. I found this video that best shows what that single egg looks like:



Thank you to Kiki for that very helpful video!

Take into account that this is my first time candling & I was trying to be fast as Teacup was coming back. I just spent 5 to 10 seconds looking at that egg. I actually thought it was empty/not viable because there was so much air space. Now I wish I had taken more time to look at it...sigh.

In addition to all of this, I am considering driving to Cackle Hatchery on Thursday & buying a few day old chicks to put under her. Honestly, I thought she had frozen to death during her absence - I know the temperature was -2F/-19C one morning. It would be nice to see her "rewarded" with some chicks for her dedication to that clutch during the very worst weather possible.


The Questions:
Should I give the eggs a few more days under Teacup?

Is it a mistake to put a few day old chicks under her this Thursday night if she still sitting on a possibly viable egg which would be day 24 (estimate) of that single egg?

Thanks for any help. I really appriciate this forum....I reference it so, so much, lol

Some hens are great at keeping their eggs warm and healthy and some are not. But that doesn't mean they can't all be great mothers. I usually start a few eggs in a small incubator at around the time a broody mom starts sitting. And when hatch day comes near -I move her and "her eggs" to a nursery area to finish out. My son takes the hen and I make sure shee sees the eggs going into the bucket. There's only one brief moment she can't see the bucket with her eggs! That's during the switch of identical buckets. One chicken wound up with 18 babies because she was a pro at hatching and I wans't going to raise the extra six myself. One super great mom was awful at it. I gave her newly hatched babies and hatching babies and brought her eggs in for candling.Hers were dead twice in a row. But she just loved being a mom. If they don't get babies after being unsuccessful they can become depressed and even angry and take their anger out on everyone- especially the roosters- it must be their fault! The bad at sitting mom (Little Shy One) was eventually killed by a raccoon as she defended her babies to her death. All six of her last girls are alive and they wound up being raised by a rooster from a previous hatching. Her older daughters tried to mother them but their brother chased everyone away from the little girl orphans. The older girls did post themselves at the nursery fence and did make them go back under the fence into the nursery every time they tried to escape. They are going to be great moms too! Now we have discovered escape routes we are revamping the nursery runs for smart-aleck babies on the run. Chick time is upon us and one of Little Shy Ones older girls is broody, and I'm getting ready.