Have 7 ladies and 2 gentlemen, ok maybe not the nicest guys ! But 2 of my smaller chicks started brooding and let them sit on the eggs. They are all sharing the nests and laying there as well. So I did mark the eggs to leave and just pull out the fresh. Well had the first hatch 2 days ago but nothing else yet. Have 4 eggs from the fist set that are marked but were not dated. Now have 6 that are dated and one of the first 4 hatched. Thought I felt movement in one of the eggs today when pulling new ones out. So a few questions.... If the shell is to hard and there is a chick trying to get out do I help it? If so how and where to start. How does the cold weather affect them? When they come out to feed, sometimes they will just do a changing of the guard but occasionally when I let them out in the morning sometimes they all run out for scratch. Anything I need to do while they eat? How long can they be off to damage the eggs? And lastly, if I know its been over 21 days, what do you do with the eggs that did not hatch? Thanks in advance!
I've never done a broody hatch (am in the middle of one), but everything Ive read says this: leave the nest lone. Trust the mama hen to know wht to do. It's very unlikely the shells are to hard for the chciks. Nature made this whole process, and the hen nd chicks know what to do. Many eggs don't hatch right on day 21. Leave the eggs until mama hen abandons them. Once she abandons them you can just throw them away (carefully incase any are rotten). She'll know if they are bad/died. Also trust the hens to know how long to be gone form the nest for. Good luck!!
