Broody Hen with broken egg underneath

[boyscout002]

Hello,
I recently put 12 fertile Birchen Marans eggs under my Buff Orpington to hatch. However, today when I checked on her I noticed that one of the eggs had been broken and that the bedding was really wet. So, I'm gonna tell you what I did this afternoon and maybe you can make some suggestions on what I could do tomorrow if need be to fully correct the situation. Anyway, I moved her out of the next and moved all the eggs to the clean empty nest beside her. I then proceeded to use some of the clean straw to wipe off the dirty egg yolk and misc material that was sticking to the eggs. Afterwards, I tried to clean her up a bit but not much just a little. and then returned the partially cleaned eggs to her nest along with her..well she was headed back anyway. And a few minutes later the nest was as before. Now I am curious, I cleaned the eggs partially with straw and wonder if I did a good enough job. I know egg shells are porous and wonder if the chicks will be able to breath? Should I remove the eggs and wash them in warm water and return to to the nest? I want to keep her eggs clean until hatch date but fear this might happen again. Should I add some artificial eggs that tend to be stronger so they could support her should she put her weight on them when going in and out of the next? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Everyone's thoughts would be greatly appreciated. My cup is large and would

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

12 is a big clutch for a hen to cover properly. Some hens can and others it's too much. A broken egg can cause the rest to die from the bacteria so check the nest every few days from now on, and watch for any smelly eggs. I would not wash any eggs as you will wash off the protective bloom and bacteria can get in the eggs more easily.

 

[boyscout002]

12 is a big clutch for a hen to cover properly. Some hens can and others it's too much. A broken egg can cause the rest to die from the bacteria so check the nest every few days from now on, and watch for any smelly eggs. I would not wash any eggs as you will wash off the protective bloom and bacteria can get in the eggs more easily.

thank you, the reason for the large number of eggs is that they were shipped fertile eggs. I never purchased fertile eggs and from what I have read... there is only about 60% hatch rate. What do you think? I have to candle the eggs soon but Marans eggs are so difficult to candle.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Marans eggs are near impossible to candle. It would be nice if you could see at least if there are veins, and development, and whether the aircells are intact.

 

[boyscout002]

Marans eggs are near impossible to candle. It would be nice if you could see at least if there are veins, and development, and whether the aircells are intact.

I have one egg that has bubbles inside and when I tilt the egg it has bubbles that go from end to end. It's another breed of chicken but I assume that to be a bad egg? At 7 days incubation I wouldn't expect to see that kind of activity.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's a dislodged air cell. I've never had those hatch. Generally that's from rough handling during shipping.

 

[angelito]

Hello,
I recently put 12 fertile Birchen Marans eggs under my Buff Orpington to hatch. However, today when I checked on her I noticed that one of the eggs had been broken and that the bedding was really wet. So, I'm gonna tell you what I did this afternoon and maybe you can make some suggestions on what I could do tomorrow if need be to fully correct the situation. Anyway, I moved her out of the next and moved all the eggs to the clean empty nest beside her. I then proceeded to use some of the clean straw to wipe off the dirty egg yolk and misc material that was sticking to the eggs. Afterwards, I tried to clean her up a bit but not much just a little. and then returned the partially cleaned eggs to her nest along with her..well she was headed back anyway. And a few minutes later the nest was as before. Now I am curious, I cleaned the eggs partially with straw and wonder if I did a good enough job. I know egg shells are porous and wonder if the chicks will be able to breath? Should I remove the eggs and wash them in warm water and return to to the nest? I want to keep her eggs clean until hatch date but fear this might happen again. Should I add some artificial eggs that tend to be stronger so they could support her should she put her weight on them when going in and out of the next? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Everyone's thoughts would be greatly appreciated. My cup is large and would

I’m having a similar issue. Did your eggs hatch?

 

[boyscout002]

Hello,
I had a 50% hatch rate for all the eggs under the hen. Yes, I am as shocked as you are. It was a project indeed. However, between the mix of dirty egg coated eggs and the number of eggs she was covering I feel somewhat successful. This is my motto..when you know better you do better.. So, next time I will only put 5-8 eggs under this hen. She is a big hen and was able to cover the eggs but she is also pretty heavy so a thin shelled egg could have easily gotten smashed. The eggs that I put in the incubator hatched. I had 17 and only 3 didn't hatch. Yes, they were fertile but didn't hatch for unknown reasons. I was shocked at the fertility rate. I even notified the breeder and she said that she had a ratio of 1-5 in one pen and 1-4 in another. I think the guys were enjoying themselves. Since the eggs hatched I only see one rooster. I would love for that to be the final outcome. Can you imagine having 14 eggs hatch straight run and only get one rooster out of the clutch.