Broody hen left her eggs for overnight

[Elena2023]

This morning I found my broody hen sitting on a wrong set of eggs. I was out of town all day and she may have been off them all day yesterday and overnight (night temp was low 41*F) She has been sitting on fertilized eggs for 4 days before she got off them. Is there hope?

 

[GodLovesU]

I guess it depends on when she got off of them.

 

[Mill Chick]

I was incubating some eggs recently and they got unplugged over night I don’t know how cold they got but there was a %50 hatch rate!

 

[Ridgerunner]

A lot depends on how long she was off and how cold it was. You just don't know what shape those eggs are in. One time I had a hen off of her eggs long enough for the eggs to become cold to the touch. I put her back on the right nest and she hatched 11 out of 11. You could candle in another couple of days and see if they are growing.

Or if you can get more fertile eggs junk those and start new ones. She should still have plenty of time to hatch them before she breaks from being broody. This early in her incubation it's probably what I'd do.

What I've seen is that if another hen is sitting on her nest laying an egg when she comes back from eating, drinking, and pooping she might go to the wrong nest. That doesn't happen often but it can happen.

If you possibly can check her every day after the others have laid to make sure she is on the right nest. I do that when I collect the eggs. I understand you were out of town so that may not have been easy. Just do the best you can. You can't do any better.