Broody silkie has now left 2 eggs...duds?

[Dar]

My broody silkie had 5 eggs, 2 hatched and 3 are waiting..

she was sitting on them until this morning now she is up walking around being a good momma to the 2 hatched chicks but the last 3 eggs she is no longer sitting on them and they have gone cold to touch, not all warm and cozy like before... does momma know these are duds?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm never quite sure what a hen knows or thinks.

i only trust their instincts to a certain point. Can you candle them and see if there is any movement inside?

 

[Ol'FashionHen]

My silkie would do the same thing, she would even get confused and sit in another nest, I eventually just ended up buying her some chicks and putting under her. Now Sophie she is my NHR, the best momma hands down , she continued to sit on her eggs 3 days after her others hatched. She was makin' sure nothin' was gonna hatch before she came up outta there. Then she took the hoppy lil buggers outside to scratch up some goodies. Her last bunch of babies she stuck with for 9 weeks til she went broody ...again

. Anyway more chicks on the way.

I would think they are not any good, at least now that she has let them go cold. Congrats on the newbies.

 

[walkswithdog]

Candle them, hens have brains the size of PEAS. If it wiggles it's alive and you need to hatch it if you want it. And yes even cool a day it may hatch... Let it heat for 2 or three hours in an incubator then candle it. Cold chicks don't move inside the egg, once they're warm they often will.