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.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

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.

Candling will prove ineffective if you don't know the age of the eggs. Never allow a hen to serial hatch. Incubator or not it is impossible to keep up with which egg or eggs should be in lockdown and which egg or eggs has weeks to go before it hatches. An incubator is not a cure all.

An on again off again incubation is not going to prove an effective way to augment your flock, but it is going to discourage new back yarders.

 

[Rooster Don]

Chickengeorge, what do you mean in saying I will discourage back yarders?

 

[RoosterDon]

So much for this being a chicken graveyard.....maybe sometimes you just need a little faith and you give the little chicks a chance, regardless of the conditions that the eggs have been through. We may not be the most accurate at this or able to get it as right as so many others here, but we have hatched over 30 chicks. The best ones though are the three that Elmeretta hatched on her own.

 

[RoosterDon]

Photos of new chick!!! Super healthy and very happy and energetic.

 

[RoosterDon]

I just put the new chick in with the other two and the mother hen is accepting it like a champ. So far so good.

 

[Rooster Don]

Another pip, against all odds we may have another hatch.

 

[Rooster Don]

Mother hen accepting the new chick with no problems.

 

[RoosterDon]

Second chick just hatched from the eggs that had gone temperature cold multiple times after the hen abandoned the eggs after her first two eggs hatched. A Major Miracle?

 

[RoosterDon]

and a third just pipped.