Broody Hen off eggs, cold, day 12

kmfriend

Chirping
Feb 23, 2010
43
24
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I have a broody hen who was sitting on 5 eggs. Tonight when I went to check on her, she was off the eggs and they were cold. I have an incubator going as I have never hatched with a broody hen before and wanted to be ready in case she stopped sitting. I immediately brought them to the incubator and put them inside. I will candle tomorrow evening. Do you think there is a chance they could make it?

She was sitting in a different box on top of two eggs that cannot be fertile as I do not have a rooster. I got the 5 eggs from our local high school. I candled them on day 10 and they were alive.

So bummed I did not notice earlier today that she was not sitting on them.
 
It can depend a bit on what stage the embryos are at...but most likely they'll be ok. :thumbsup
I've had broodies mix up nests and the eggs were cold for about 11 hours in 6C weather. I've forgotten my incubator open and off, twice for most of the day! :he The eggs hatched fine.

I have guinea fowl eggs in the incubator right now. Some were left for another nest. I've got them marked separately. So far all of them are developing. And this happened when the embryos were small. I've got 2 weeks left for incubating them.:fl

If you candle the eggs while cold they'll look dead. There won't be any movement. Once they heat back up the embryos should be active. I'd love to hear how things turn out! Best of luck with those eggs. :highfive:
 
It can depend a bit on what stage the embryos are at...but most likely they'll be ok. :thumbsup
I've had broodies mix up nests and the eggs were cold for about 11 hours in 6C weather. I've forgotten my incubator open and off, twice for most of the day! :he The eggs hatched fine.

I have guinea fowl eggs in the incubator right now. Some were left for another nest. I've got them marked separately. So far all of them are developing. And this happened when the embryos were small. I've got 2 weeks left for incubating them.:fl

If you candle the eggs while cold they'll look dead. There won't be any movement. Once they heat back up the embryos should be active. I'd love to hear how things turn out! Best of luck with those eggs. :highfive:
I will let you know what I find tomorrow when I candle. I am encouraged!
 
I'm in the same boat, unfortunately. This morning, my broody RIR decided she no longer wanted the three turkey eggs I gave her a week ago. Luckily, I have a brooding mama who accepted them despite having a batch of chicks. (She's waiting on one last egg, anyway, so she doesn't care.) They're going to be candled once they warm up a bit, and if they're fine they're going into the incubator.

Hopefully all your eggs hatch! It's really frustrating to have broodies quit mid-term.
 
I have a broody hen who was sitting on 5 eggs. Tonight when I went to check on her, she was off the eggs and they were cold. I have an incubator going as I have never hatched with a broody hen before and wanted to be ready in case she stopped sitting. I immediately brought them to the incubator and put them inside. I will candle tomorrow evening. Do you think there is a chance they could make it?

She was sitting in a different box on top of two eggs that cannot be fertile as I do not have a rooster. I got the 5 eggs from our local high school. I candled them on day 10 and they were alive.

So bummed I did not notice earlier today that she was not sitting on them.

I mostly incubator hatch and allow the eggs to cool each day from day 8. One day I turned the incubator off and forgot all about it and went out. It was hours later, when I was closing the house up for the night and I remembered and turned the incubator back on. I had a 100% hatch rate.
A friend found a nest where the mother was killed and the eggs cold. She wrapped them in a towel and placed them under a regular electric bulb until she could get an incubator and half the eggs hatched. So don't despair. Put them in the incubator and you may be pleasantly surprised.
 

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