Broody decided not to be broody!!

[BarefootMom]

okay I had 3 broody silkies to begin with- well one decided that she was my meaties' mama...

so the other two were sitting on some silkie and duck eggs. The silkie eggs should be due to hatch next week or so. When I went to check their feed this morning both hens were off the nest and one was EATING one of her EGGS!! ahhh! it was all bloody and everything!! So I took the eggs and let both broodies out. The eggs are now in my bator, but they are filthy. I have heard not to wash them but not to incubate dirty eggs? I can't just give up on these babies though--so they are on one side of the bator while my duck eggs that have been in the bator for a few days, are on the other side.

What would cause the broody to eat one of her eggs?? Does that happen alot? I had a bowl of crumbles and water right next to the nest so they could eat and drink.

I would have put the eggs under my broody EE, but she is sitting on like 20 eggs as it is...she is flatter than a pancake

 

[dretd]

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Eeeewwwww. I am wondering if that egg had a small crack and broke as she stirred/turned them and she looked down and her brain said 'wow, I haven't eaten in so long, boy am I hungry!'

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Sorry, don't have any experience with that. Did you candle them? Maybe take out any bad ones? Tough call. If it were me, I would probably leave them for now and be getting a hatcher/ alternative incubator lined up because when they hatch you'll have a huge mess to clean up and it could ruin the duck eggs.

I would have put the eggs under my broody EE, but she is sitting on like 20 eggs as it is...she is flatter than a pancake

Holy cow! 20? I thought 14 was a lot when my broody stole eggs from the adjacent nest!​

 

[BarefootMom]

Sorry, don't have any experience with that. Did you candle them? Maybe take out any bad ones? Tough call. If it were me, I would probably leave them for now and be getting a hatcher/ alternative incubator lined up because when they hatch you'll have a huge mess to clean up and it could ruin the duck eggs.

I don't have another incubator and I can only candle at night. So I will candle them tonight. I was thinking about trying to put some sort of divider in the incubator to divide them, I need to try and find something. Or I guess I could just use egg cartons? (would that contain the mess??) I don't have an egg turner, so that isn't a problem to deal with.​

 

[dretd]

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I don't have another incubator and I can only candle at night. So I will candle them tonight. I was thinking about trying to put some sort of divider in the incubator to divide them, I need to try and find something. Or I guess I could just use egg cartons? (would that contain the mess??) I don't have an egg turner, so that isn't a problem to deal with.

Gosh, I wish I could be more help. I think anything you can do to contain the mess is a plus, so egg cartons sound like a good idea.
One problem to think about is lockdown vs needing to turn your duck eggs. I have heard that some folks think its ok to turn the eggs/access the incubator during lockdown as long as there is not a pip. May be a specific search on progressive hatch dates or something.

Also, think about ways to minimize your heat/moisture loss if you need to open it for the ducks. I taped clear plastc (gallon ziploc bags) around the lid of my incubator to keep the air in. I lift the lid just enough for my arm to go in and it really helps to keep the heat in--less than a degree of heat lost and only a few percent humidity.

It would be great to keep the chicks off the duck eggs. My mom, a craft fanatic, suggested using clear plastic needle point canvas cut down and duct taped in place for a divider to keep the different types of chicks separate. Still thinking about it, but that might be a solution to keep the chicks off the duck eggs. She said it comes in a pretty open mesh.

 

[schellie69]

Maybe the egg broke and she ate it, they do this is in the wild to hide the fact that they have eggs I have heard of broody's kicking eggs out of the nest that where not good. I would do a search and see what others might have said in another post.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It depends in your incubator, but you might be able to set up a wire barrier across it to keep the chicks contained. Something that might be easier is to take some hardware cloth and fashion a basket that can be set over the eggs. That way, when the chicks hatch, they are trapped inside the up-side-down basket. Some people freak out at how crowded the incubator gets with chicks when they hatch, but it is not really a big problem for them to be a little crowded. Just make the basket as big as you can and get it to fit.

Personally I'd wash the eggs. Just use water that is about 10 degrees warmer than the eggs. I don't wash my eggs, but then I don't set dirty eggs. There is a lot of different opinion on whether you should wash them or not, but I really think it does not make that much difference if they are in a relatively clean, sterile environment. I just think that gunk on the eggs is too good a host for bacteria to set up, so you are in danger of losing your while hatch.

 

[BarefootMom]

I candled tonight. Some of the silkie eggs look like they could be hatching anytime!... I think they are all fertile.

I have just an LG bator...(no harsh name calling we are new to this and didn't want to spend lots of cash)

I think I am just going to put them into an egg carton---with the top cut off to help contain. Going to try and make a divider also with hardware cloth in the middle.

thanks for all the input.