Broken egg MESS in broody box.

[sashanellie]

Hello everyone,
I just don't know what to do. Poor hen. She's huge, a cochin, and broody, and sitting on fertile eggs. There were 5. Yesterday I came to check on her and she was all upset, out of the box, covered in yolk and egg shells, and there were 3 eggs left.

She has never eaten eggs, so I think she stepped on them accidentally after taking an eating and drinking break and trying to get back into the box. I have tried moving her to a floor nest, but she refuses to move. She'd rather sit on an empty nest in that box than on her eggs on the floor.

So I picked her up, and tried to use a bucket of warm water to rinse off her chest and under feathers, but it was a poor job, and she was so upset and wanted to go back inside. So she cleaned herself off (poor job as well) and got back on the eggs. Today when I checked, one of the eggs was completely stuck to her chest and feathers, and has yolk on it from yesterday. I carefully pulled her feathers loose and replaced the egg and she got back on the nest.

ADVICE? How can I wash her without having her go on the eggs wet? Does it matter, or will it resolve itself? Are the eggs even viable at this point after having yolk on them? We are about 5-7 days in. Thank you all so much for looking to see if you can advise!

 

[nchls school]

Dampness of the hen will not hurt the eggs. Nor the yolk if it dries fast.
This is a fairly common problems with big hens. There are a couple things you can do to prevent egg damage with this hen:

1. Make sure the nest is flat on the bottom and of a good size to accommodate the eggs and brooding hen. A curved bottom
pulls the egg in to the center not leaving enough room for the hen's feet when she returns to the nest.

2. Make sure the nest bottom is well padded with some give to it. If the nest bottom has no give to it the eggs get broken when the hen steps on them.

3. Clip toe nails so they are not pointed and sharp.

The eggs can be candled to determined if they are still developing. If not, the hen can be given a new set of fresh eggs.

 

[sashanellie]

Thank you so much!!

 

[nchls school]

You're welcome. Have a glorious day!

 

[sashanellie]

You're welcome. Have a glorious day!

Just updating..I think another hen was eating the eggs and my broody hen was covered the next day, so upset, but she abandoned the nest, took a dust bath, and is now happy as can be. Oh well!

 

[LaFleche]

Next time make sure no other hen or mice or else will be able to disturb the broody on her nest.