Broody - candling

[longworks83]

Hey all! I had posted last weekend about a hen being broody and giving up and another taking over the next day. I was advised to start over but decided to give it a week and see.. well I candled the eggs today and am seeing development. My question is do I go by the hatch date from when the first broody started sitting or the second that took over 5 days later? I've attached some pics of where the Air sac is. I can see air sacs on 8 out of 8. And on the lighter eggs I can see veins and movement. But the first picture it looks like the one is further along then the second? Or is that normal?

First broody started sitting on 9-6 and second 9-10

 

[song of joy]

Assuming the first broody was setting on the eggs consistently until the second one took over, I'd use a 9/6 start date for incubation. The air cell markings look typical for what I'd expect to see at 10 to 14 days of incubation.

You may want to isolate the broody and her nest so you don't have any more nest-switching, as this could cause the hatch to fail.

Sounds like you might end up with a good hatch from these if she sticks with it and doesn't switch nests. Best of luck to you!