Broody hen rolled out eggs

[WinterSkyMoonRanch]

I need some advice...I have two broody hens setting on eggs. They have hatched 3 chicks, with many others on the way. They were fine this morning when I looked, but this evening when I went to put everyone to bed, I noticed that they had rolled out a bunch of eggs. I, had a crack and was rotten, but I put a flashlight to the others, and there were some fully developed babies in there!! So, it seems to me that they had to roll all of them out in order to get the rotten one out, and then of course, did not roll the rest of them back. By the time I got to them, they were cold. I shoved the ones that seem to be ready to hatch any minute back under the hens, but I don't know if any of them will make it...its about 65 degrees outside...I'm sick about it!

 

[WinterSkyMoonRanch]

I have two broody hens setting on eggs. They have hatched 3, and have many more of my little bantam chicken eggs underneath them. I saw them this morning all was well. This evening, I went out to put them to bed, and they had rolled out about six eggs. One of the eggs had a crack and was rotten, but when I checked the others, most of them were on the verge of hatching...completely solid colored inside, with just the air sack on the top of the egg showing. So, it looks like to me, that they rolled out the rotten egg, but had to move the other eggs to get that one out, and they never put them back. I know that maybe those eggs were affected, but from the smell of the rotten egg, it has been rotten for awhile. (which would mean that the embryos would not have developed fully, but they have). So, I rolled the eggs back underneath the hens...they were cold to the touch though...it is about 65 degrees...any chance that any of them will still hatch? I'm sick about it, since they are soooo close to hatching!

 

[Saltysteele]

the time out of the nest shouldn't (hopefully) affect them. my hen has been off the nest for over 4 hours before and they eggs hatched fine.

 

[Cockadoodledon't]

I definitely think its worth the shot of following through.

 

[cmom]

Don't give up. I don't use a broody. I lost power once 2 weeks into incubation. The temp in the incubator was 78 degrees when I discovered it. I put the incubator on a battery pack with an inverter and brought the temp back up. I still had a good hatch. If your broody decides not to sit on the eggs, do you have an incubator or even a heating pad you can try to see if they will hatch.

 

[Happy Chooks]

At the end of incubation, it's not that critical. They'll be fine I'm sure. Mother nature is resilient. My last hatch went through 3 major power outages and I still hatched 23 chicks.

 

[WinterSkyMoonRanch]

Thanx guys. I went out this morning at 10:00 a.m. to check, and I had a new chick that had just hatched! Yae! Thank god, I put those eggs back under the hens.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Congrats!

I have 1 more week until my broody hatches! Can't be soon enough, it's supposed to really get hot here starting next Friday!