Broody on wrong nest for 8 hours!!

[roseapalooza]

Hi all, Ive got my first broody on a clutch of 5 eggs - very eggciting Until yesterday....she hopped off in the morning when I was feeding and watering the gang. Nobody went back into the chook shed until about 8 hours later AND SHE WAS ON THE WRONG NEST! My husband said the eggs felt cool but he didn't really check and just put her back on them. It was really quite cold yesterday, between 5-10°c all day. Is there any hope??? Thanks all!

 

[JaeG]

There's always hope. Eggs are amazingly resilient. I like to isolate my broodies in a small area with just one nest area as a way of avoiding nest swapping, but some people have success leaving them with the main flock.

Have a read of this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/five-tough-chicks-and-two-amazing-embryos.1180929/

 

[Abriana]

How old are the eggs? If they aren't that old, then they will probably be fine. My bantam is a stinker, she always does that.

 

[roseapalooza]

Thanks for your replies! The eggs are day 17 today, I candled them this morning and amazingly saw movement in 4 of the 5!!! Incredible! I'm going to leave all under&see what we get next week!

 

[Abriana]

That's great! Sounds like there's still some hope.

 

[Birdinhand]

interestingly, eggs are more tolerant to having incubation interrupted completely than going the whole time at the wrong temp. eggs often survive power outages in incubators, they go into a dormant state. glad to hear they are still kicking, good luck!

 

[Tlmcq]

They should be ok.. sometimes when incubating in incubator if temps are lower than ideal it takes longer for them to hatch. I know this is bit different, but just keep that in mind come hatch day as it may have slowed a bit of development and may take an extra day or so to hatch. Just wouldn't want you to panic if there's a late hatch and think they aren't coming. Just in case, that happens.

 

[roseapalooza]

Update: 2 hatched day 22 and 2 more day 23! Now we're the evening of day 24 and mamma and babies still arent off the nest to eat/drink...I know 72hrs isnt up yet so Im trying to not worry but its hard! Should I dip the chicks beaks in some water and let them have a peck around or trust that mamma knows best??

 

[SeaPolka]

Update: 2 hatched day 22 and 2 more day 23! Now we're the evening of day 24 and mamma and babies still arent off the nest to eat/drink...I know 72hrs isnt up yet so Im trying to not worry but its hard! Should I dip the chicks beaks in some water and let them have a peck around or trust that mamma knows best??

If you know the eggs aren't going to hatch then remove them or she will continue sitting one them. You can put them in an incubator and give them to her at night time if they hatch.

 

[Tlmcq]

Mom will stay on nest for couple days after the first ones hatch. Then usually by time 3 days after hatch she will show them food n water and how to be a chicken. Is this her first hatch? And has it been 3 days since first one hatched or just took longer for all to start hatching? Is food and water in with Mom n new babes? You can dip beaks, but don't want them venturing out without mom. I would candle any other eggs and see if they're alive so you can remove them if not to get mom to move off them. If they're still alive you can try to incubate rest of way or bring food n water close to Mom and let nature take its course, and see if she can finish hatch.