broody hen hatching eggs in cold weather

[lollypop1478]

still no babies

how much longer should i let her sit, now day 22, I was thinking till Monday??

 

[HEChicken]

I would give her another couple of days. Have you candled the eggs?

 

[suebee]

 

[lollypop1478]

no i didnt candle them, wanted to leave her alone with them to keep them as warm as possible, prob a bit late now but I was thinking about it just to see if there were any internal pips

 

[lollypop1478]

Well as I thought all chicks were dead, 2 must of died early on, the other 4 had feathers and were quite large but were all dead and smelly

 

[LONDON HENS]

I have a broody at the moment in England and we are having some very cold weather. When the hen gets of the nest each day for food and water etc will the eggs be ok?
Can the eggs withstand the chill while she is off the nest??
Lastly, would the hen be OK if I only let her of the nest every other day?

 

[wilma518]

I have a Buff Orpington setting on 9 eggs right now in Northern Wisconsin. It's still really cold and this is my first time hatching eggs at all. They were laid on 2/27 and put under her that same day. There were origionally 11 eggs. After 8 days, I candled them. There were two eggs with nothing in them, so they were removed, one that I could not tell because I can't see through the shell, and 8 eggs with about one-third of the egg dark. I then candled them again last night (at 15 days), I can see that those 8 have grown to take up most of the inside of the eggs with a air pocket at the top of each of those eggs. There's still the one that I can't tell because it's a Aracauna egg and it's green and too dark, so it's still there also. It's going to be so cool to see these litte ones hatch on the first day of Spring or the day after. My hen is in a brooding pen inside the coop, I do heat the coop at night with a small barn heater, but not during the day. I'm not sure if I should put a heat lamp above the brooding pen or not. I see people say that Mama hen can take care of them, but I too worry about the cold. Now I wait. Do they ever hatch earlier than 21 days? How long should I wait until I discard the eggs? Very excited, but a little nervous also. Wish us luck!

 

[LONDON HENS]

They should all hatch around day 21 but I have had them earlier. Beginning of day 20 sometimes. Good luck!
my hen above did a grand job. She managed to hatch all 6 out of 6! One of them hatched start of day 20 and the last 2 end of day 21.

 

[turtlemark]

Ok does the cold effect the hatch time.. i have a silkie whose due date is today... I am not hearing any peeps and the eggs look all in tack. she has been great at sitting,,, she is in a small pen... her own small box... food / water right there... and a heat lamp on in her pen... it has dropped to around zero here but she is in a pen that gets no drafts .... how long do I wait to see if they will hatch....

 

[maddog3355]

In really cold winter I try to limit them to 6 eggs. I'm not worried about them hatching I just think they can keep a smaller brood warm. I don't run no heat lamps and have had excellent results down below zero.