broody then not

[RoosterDon]

our broody hen inherited eggs every time she went for a break and ended up sitting on 16 eggs. she hatched two of them, now is leaving the eggs when she comes down from her nest to take a break. her two chicks follow her, and the two chicks can't get back in the nest, so naturally the hen stays down with them till. the rest of the eggs have gone cold now three times. i just put them in my incubator. the eggs are varying in age from "should hatch now, to having 10-15 days left".

any suggestions? when the eggs have been in the right temperature and humidity for awhile, i will candle them.

will candleing be effective now?

if the eggs have been left and went cold multiple times, should they be dead eggs now?

thanks.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The only way to know the answers to those questions, unfortunately, is to see what happens - though chances of a successful outcome are not great. For future instances of a broody hen that you allow to set the best practice is to mark the eggs she is meant to hatch and check her nest daily, removing all unmarked eggs. Hens are not programmed to accommodate staggered hatches and allowing eggs to be added to the clutch throughout incubation leads to exactly this situation.