Candled eggs after 7 days, oh boy! Need help please

[thistlewick]

So I've got a broody girl - I gave her 3 eggs and kinda just left her alone for a week. Made sure she was eating and pooping but just letting her do her thing. I never ONCE saw her off the nest but I did find big ol broody poops so I knew she was getting off from time to time.

Today I saw (via camera) that she was off and I knew it was candling time! So I rush out to the hen house... to find 9 eggs in her nest where she's been brooding.

Okay so that shocked me to bits. It just absolutely frazzled me. I kept getting 10-12 eggs a day from my girls so man, my chickens are SNEAKY laying in that nest.

Anyway, I went and candled them all. Most were going bad (fully DARK on half of the inside, but no red line yet) and only ONE had a wiggly eye. Another one looked like it had potential possibly to continue to develop.

So I took out 7 eggs and left her with two.

She's getting up a bunch today (it is rather hot today, it's like 80 degrees unseasonably in February here in NC, where it literally was 30 degrees just 1 week ago) and just not as "BROODY" as she has been.

DID I MESS HER UP? By taking out 7 eggs? Will she settle on the two that are good?

Since one has a wiggly eye already -- I can't really give her more, since she's already sitting for 1 week -- I don't want to add another extra week of brooding on to her. Can I?

What is the best practice?

Also, should I run out and get an incubator just in case she ditches?

 

[FrostRanger]

When hatching it's always a good idea to have an incubator on hand

 

[aart]

Did you mark those 3 eggs, then check daily for any added to nest?
If you can do that starting now it should work out.

 

[thistlewick]

Did you mark those 3 eggs, then check daily for any added to nest?
If you can do that starting now it should work out.

Yeah I marked them with pencil, it rubbed off -- but I remember them. 2 of them were the ones that had promise - one had a wiggly eye and another looked like a dark spec. One was completely nothing inside, still just yolk.

She's got 2 under her now (2 of the 3 from 7 days ago) and she seems to have settled back on there.

Was worried I upset her too much by taking out 7 eggs.

Also - once the timer of 3 weeks starts --- is that basically it? She's either gonna hatch whichever ones are good or can you stretch it out and give her a fresh batch today to see how THOSE go?

That would mean 1 extra week of brooding on her and I know brooding is tough. But I'm just curious if you can stretch it 1 week? is that cruel? I'm just wholly ignorant and not entirely sure.

In my complete ignorance of this aspect; it would seem to me to be unwise to stretch it out TOO far. But it seems like 1 extra week is perhaps possible.

How wrong am I? or ? hah

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When the first chicks hatch and she takes them off the nest, any unhatched eggs left on the nest will die. Or you'll need to take them off the nest and incubate them and raise them yourself.

 

[thistlewick]

When the first chicks hatch and she takes them off the nest, any unhatched eggs left on the nest will die. Or you'll need to take them off the nest and incubate them and raise them yourself.

Yeah I know this, this isn't what I'm asking though

I'm asking if I can reset her -- basically get her a whole new set of eggs and start the 3 week counter over.... and asking if this will stress her out too much.

It's been one week - just wondering if 4 weeks is too much for a chicken to handle. That's just what I was wondering.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Yeah I marked them with pencil, it rubbed off -- but I remember them. 2 of them were the ones that had promise - one had a wiggly eye and another looked like a dark spec. One was completely nothing inside, still just yolk.

She's got 2 under her now (2 of the 3 from 7 days ago) and she seems to have settled back on there.

Was worried I upset her too much by taking out 7 eggs.

Also - once the timer of 3 weeks starts --- is that basically it? She's either gonna hatch whichever ones are good or can you stretch it out and give her a fresh batch today to see how THOSE go?

That would mean 1 extra week of brooding on her and I know brooding is tough. But I'm just curious if you can stretch it 1 week? is that cruel? I'm just wholly ignorant and not entirely sure.

In my complete ignorance of this aspect; it would seem to me to be unwise to stretch it out TOO far. But it seems like 1 extra week is perhaps possible.

How wrong am I? or ? hah

depends. if you put the original eggs in the incubator, you might be able to get her to incubate a fresh batch. but, if you leave the original eggs, they will be staggered, and when her first chicks hatch, she will abandon any other eggs after 3 days. so possible, but you will need an incubator regardless.

 

[MountainWoman73]

Yeah I know this, this isn't what I'm asking though

I'm asking if I can reset her -- basically get her a whole new set of eggs and start the 3 week counter over.... and asking if this will stress her out too much.

It's been one week - just wondering if 4 weeks is too much for a chicken to handle. That's just what I was wondering.

Yeah, if she's good and broody, one extra week should be fine. You could toss the half-developed eggs and replace with all new and mark them.

To your previous question -- removing 7 eggs probably won't upset her. Hens graft to the nest, not the eggs, so they'll stay on that nest even if all the eggs are removed. So if you do let her keep her 2 eggs, and nothing hatched, you'll either have to break her or buy her a couple store bought chicks. (I've done that before and it worked)

 

[thistlewick]

I think she's great, but I don't know ANYTHING about this, this is my first time!

Yesterday was 80 degrees here, which was unseasonable and hot and really surprising for Feb in NC, so she was off more than usual - but she ONLY left the hen house to poop. She is an amazing girl, she won't even do a broody poop in the hen house.

But yeah, I was worried about her ditching the nest bc I took 7 eggs off but she didn't -- she went right back up there. I watched her a lot more on the camera yesterday and she tended and turned the eggs and just sat and sat all afternoon/evening.

What do ya'll mark them with?

the pencil I used last week rubbed all off

I googled about using a sharpie and some of the responses were "nooo the shell is porous and so you're going to get ink in there" so I just am not sure what I should use that will stay

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I think she's great, but I don't know ANYTHING about this, this is my first time!

Yesterday was 80 degrees here, which was unseasonable and hot and really surprising for Feb in NC, so she was off more than usual - but she ONLY left the hen house to poop. She is an amazing girl, she won't even do a broody poop in the hen house.

But yeah, I was worried about her ditching the nest bc I took 7 eggs off but she didn't -- she went right back up there. I watched her a lot more on the camera yesterday and she tended and turned the eggs and just sat and sat all afternoon/evening.

What do ya'll mark them with?

the pencil I used last week rubbed all off

I googled about using a sharpie and some of the responses were "nooo the shell is porous and so you're going to get ink in there" so I just am not sure what I should use that will stay

I typically use a blue or green sharpie. worked last time. the egg that I marked hatched into a beautiful mixed breed Plymouth, and now since I got rid of my extra roos, he's the leader of the flock.

(the reason there was only one is that two hens were in the same nest. eggs did not get proper heating, and I learned an important lesson about keeping my broodies separate.)