Can hen leave eggs while setting?

[kwhites634]

One of my RIR's went broody in mid-June, much to my surprise, since in all the years I've kept the breed, she's the first to want to set for more than a couple days. Her timing could've been better; we were going on vacation for three weeks in early July, so her eggs were removed every day until we returned. On the first of August I quit taking her eggs from her, and she's been setting ever since. The number of eggs under her keeps changing (I'm sure she's pulling other hens' eggs under), but it averages about 15.

Today is the 28th, and no chicks yet, nor any sign of an impending hatch. I know at least some of the eggs are fertile; my wife cracked what we thought was a fresh egg and found a chick inside. One other time she hard-boiled some eggs and discovered a chick inside of one. I check the eggs whenever I can catch her off the nest, which isn't often and never for very long, but no signs of anybody wanting out of the shell. I'd have thought that if some of the older eggs weren't fertile, or the embryos had died, I'd be able to smell them by now.

I'm about to the point of taking all her eggs from her and tossing them, then saving a new batch to put under her all at once.

Any suggestions?

 

[junebuggena]

Do you have a rooster? Are you sure you have fertile eggs? Are you confusing meat spots for embryos?

This is a fresh, fertile egg. Ignore the little meat spot. What you are looking for is the white 'bullseye' on the yolk. An infertile egg will have a small white dot.

 

[kwhites634]

Yes, I have a rooster.
When you break open an egg and find something inside wearing feathers it's kinda hard to mistake it for anything but an unborn chick.
I didn't candle any of her eggs; just let nature take its course. I've hatched eggs in incubators in the past, but I wanted to let the hen do her thing this time so I wouldn't have to go through integrating the chicks into the flock.

 

[junebuggena]

Did you mark the eggs in her original clutch to make sure she didn't 'collect' too many eggs under her? Has she been broody for over 2 months? That doesn't seem very healthy to me. They hardly eat and drink while broody. After a month, a hen can be pretty depleted. If you let her stay broody much longer, she could get very ill. It might be a good idea to try to break her broodiness. You can always try to let her set the next time she goes broody. Make sure you mark the eggs in the next clutch though. That way you know exactly how many eggs she's got, how far along they are, and you won't accidentally collect them.

 

[kwhites634]

No, I didn't mark any of her eggs; wasn't sure if the chemicals in the Sharpie would do any harm.

Like I said, she's been setting since mid-June, but we took her eggs from her until August 1st...27 days ago.

I never saw her off the nest at all for about 10 days. Since then, I'll see her maybe once or twice a day for a short period when she comes out to eat or drink. She even joined all her buddies the other day when I let them all out to free-range.

She's my oldest, about 3 now. She seems fine physically; eyes are bright & alert, no trouble getting around when she takes a notion to get off the nest for a bit, and she'll still try to take a nip out of you if you get too far into "her space".

 

[junebuggena]

Sharpies are fine to use, so are pencils. If she's still in good condition, and willing to sit go ahead and start a new clutch. Collect the eggs you want her to sit on and store them fat end up, then mark and set them under her. Or just mark the eggs under her at the end of the day. Do not continue adding to the clutch after 3 days. You want all the chicks to hatch within about 72 hours of each other. That way, when she finally does get up to take care of the chicks, she isn't leaving behind a pile of partially developed eggs. If she does stop brooding before the eggs are ready, have your incubator prepared to finish up the incubation.

 

[kwhites634]

That makes sense. Thanks for the input.

Actually, I've kept chickens for several years, for the eggs, but this is my first attempt at hatching my own. I've always bought pullets in the Spring from the local farm supply chain whenever my existing flock got to be about 3 years old or I lost a bunch to our furry little friends in masks. I'd been without a rooster for a while because I'd never had any of my former hens willing to set eggs long enough to get the job done...RIR's aren't famous for their inclination to set. I bought an incubator (complete with automatic turner, thank you) & brooder several years ago, and had gotten down to one rooster (out of 4), but I kept the wrong one...he was shooting blanks. Haven't had the inclination to incubate eggs since; I don't have a place to keep chicks segregated from the older birds except in the basement, and I ain't playing that game again. Main thrust behind raising my own chicks is so I can leave their beaks intact. I'm not sure if they ever grow back or not (guess it depends on how they're removed), but I don't care for the practice. The other thing is when I order RIR pullets & a rooster, that's what I expect to get, not half a dozen pullets that are obviously crossed with something else (most of them are faded out & have white to varying degees) and a solid white rooster! Not @ $12 a pop, anyway! I suspect I'll wind up buying a bunch of fertile "heritage RIR eggs come Spring.

I'm getting ready to build another pen next to my existing pen so I can bring chicks along where the older birds can get used to them without being able to get to them before they're ready to integrate (assuming I have to incubate the eggs myself). It'll have a separate coop where momma can do her thing. It's getting close to cold weather time here, so I may not get the extra "digs" finished til Spring. So, if this current clutch of eggs doesn't hatch, and it looks like it's not going to, I'll probably wait til decent weather finds us again, save a dozen eggs, and see if mamma's still in the mood to set them. If she ain't I'll just put them in the incubator and turn them out when they're ready.

 

[junebuggena]

Sounds like you got red sexlinks instead of Rhode Island Reds. Red sexlink hens are golden/red with some white. The roosters are mostly white with some red. They don't breed true, since they are cross breed. You'll get a combination of red chicks with varying amounts of white as they feather in. They're pretty, and they lay well.

 

[kwhites634]

Never thought about that, but you're probably right on the money. That does it; I'm done with buying birds through the feed store. They DO lay well, though.