Broody hen - too many eggs - should I toss some or leave them???

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I hope I haven't made too many mistakes here, but this is our first time with incubating and I'm still learning.

We don't have a rooster, but do have a determined broody. I purchased shipped eggs from two different sellers and ended up with 18 eggs - a few extra were sent and none broke.

I threw one egg out because it had a meat spot. The other 18 are all sitting under my hen. It looks like she can easily handle 15, but with 18 she does have 1 or 2 eggs that are sitting on top of the others. I know 18 is too many and I never planned to keep that many, but didn't have the heart to throw out possible fertile eggs (knowing that maybe 1/2 may not make it anyway due to shipping).

I was hoping to be able to eliminate a few after 3 days, but they all looked the same - just floating yolks - no veining. Tonight is day 5 and I'd like to candle again so that I can keep any that look viable and maybe remove a few that don't. Is it too soon?

What I'm mostly wondering is;
Is it a bigger risk to keep all 18 under her for now, possibly losing a few because of the number of eggs she's on or is it riskier to candle them and pick out a few that have no signs of veining in order to reduce her number.

 

[MoodyChicken]

If it's hot enough where you live, she might be able to keep them all. By day 5 you should be able to tell (heck, if you know what you're looking for you can tell by day 2, check for the amnion, it wiggles a lot). Dispose of any eggs that don't look promising to lighten her load.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

It's definitely hot here - the highs for all next week range from 97-101 (lows are about 70 right now). I went out tonight and candled 9 of the eggs. I saw life in a couple, but couldn't really figure the rest out. They're all light brown eggs. I didn't get rid of any - I'm too afraid to throw a good one out.

 

[DANNY]

You need to get rid of some because a hen is constantly moving the egg around and eventually will get them all out from under her at night and get them chilled and you may loose the whole clutch. My guess is there is nothing in those eggs that you were in question about .The reason you didn't see anything is because there was nothing there. I would candle again and take all the infertiles out.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I have light brown eggs (australorp, light brahma, & penciled rocks) and last night, they were 5 days along. Should I have been able to see veins in all of them, even though the eggs are not white? I have been seeing a dark yolk or mass in most of them, but only saw the veins in one or two (only checked 9 because it didn't seem fruitful).


Edited: Forgot to say that I'm using a homemade wooden box with a 150 watt flourescent type bulb inside as a candler.

 

[DANNY]

You should be able to make a good comparison with the ones that are fertile. They should be beginning to darken and make the air pocket at the big end more visible.