broken egg under broody banty

[Chickie'sMoma]

i'm just wondering if a broken eggs under my bantam is bad for her and the other eggs. i just checked earlier tonight my broody bantam faverolles pullet and noticed that one of her eggs broke and i'm not sure if she ate it because it was a dud or if she just ate it. i have not seen her off the nest when i've gone to feed/water and check for other eggs so i am worried she is not eating. she has only been brooding over them since Monday but i know some of the eggs are a few days older than her time on them.

should i bring her inside and wash her belly off of the egg goo or will this make her cool down and want to go back to brooding over her eggs? and will the eggs that were under her still be ok to hatch or will i need to clean them off?

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

will anyone be able to help me out with this?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Not sure i know the best answer, just what i would do. i've had it happen that an egg accidentally breaks under a broody and they end up eating it. When this happened twice under a particular broody, i took her eggs away and gave them to another, more experienced broody. So the issue may be that the egg shells are too fragile or it may be a problem with the hen. You'll have to determine that with your girl.

If she is your only broody, you may want to take her off the nest and clean her up as quickly as possible. You don't want the egg goo to get funky and start growing bacteria on her and the other eggs. Then clean the other eggs off as best as you can. If they are too drenched in egg muck, you might want to ditch this batch.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i'm afraid i may have to toss the eggs anyways, none looked like they were developing when i checked them last night. i'll probably bring her in to brood over some eggs i have coming this week from other breeders.

she also got off the nest today when i went out around 10am to check for eggs and bring them treats. so i know she is feeding and doing her other business too.

she's been very protective over the nest when anyone gets near it or touches the eggs. so i am thinking it broke under her and she ate it. there is some yoke on her beak from it too.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Well, hard to blame them for eating a broken egg. My silkies are super protective of their eggs, but if one breaks, all bets are off. It may be that the broken egg had too fragile a shell.

Good luck with your next batch!