Day 21 under a broody.

Driley62

Songster
Jun 8, 2021
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Chazy, NY
Today is day 21 for at least 3 of the 4 eggs under a broody hen. It is now 5:30pm which it well beyond when all.my girls are done laying for the day. Still no eggs have pipped, and I'm starting to get concerned. Yesterday I know for a fact that she got off 3 times yesterday. Yesterday's weather at about this same time was 86° with a humidity of 60%. I haven't candled at all this time around. Figured let nature take its course. The last time she got off the nest yesterday my wife and I went out and candled them in place without physically handling them and this seemed to be ok. Good size air pocket. On all and the rest of the egg you couldn't see through period like there was a solid mass on the inside. Didn't however see movement, but I figured because it was day 20 I wasn't gonna see any movement because they’re in position for hatch. The first time she went broody she seemingly never left the nest and when she did, was extremely brief...talking minutes. Granted, when she went broody the first time I was working so I didn't see her movements every day. But on my days off I made sure to observe and thats what I had seen.

But this time, she's off the nest and she's not acting crazy like the first time, she gets off eats, drinks, does her poo biz, and dust bathes and it seemingly takes an hour or more.

Yesterday's occasion she was off three times but the last two times were shorter increments(45 minutes max).

Not exactly sure what's going on here.

Hoping for her sake she's not sitting on quitters.
 
First, trust your broody. She knows more about this just through instinct than we ever will.

Second, did you count the days right. That is a real common mistake on here. An egg doesn't have a day's worth of development when it first goes under a broody or in an incubator. It takes 24 hours for it to have days worth of development. Intuitively you want to say "one" when you put them in but you need to wait a day to start counting. An easy way to check your counting is the day of the week you put them in is the day the 21 days are up. If you set them on a Saturday the 21 days are up on a Saturday.

And third, whether under a broody hen or in an incubator it's not that unusual for eggs to be a couple of days early or late. There are many different reasons for that. Mine often hatch a full two days early, some people say theirs are typically late. As frustrating and stressful as it is all you can do is all you can do is wait another couple of days and hope for the best. There is nothing you can do to help then hatch but you can harm them by interfering. Good luck!
 
First, trust your broody. She knows more about this just through instinct than we ever will.

Second, did you count the days right. That is a real common mistake on here. An egg doesn't have a day's worth of development when it first goes under a broody or in an incubator. It takes 24 hours for it to have days worth of development. Intuitively you want to say "one" when you put them in but you need to wait a day to start counting. An easy way to check your counting is the day of the week you put them in is the day the 21 days are up. If you set them on a Saturday the 21 days are up on a Saturday.

And third, whether under a broody hen or in an incubator it's not that unusual for eggs to be a couple of days early or late. There are many different reasons for that. Mine often hatch a full two days early, some people say theirs are typically late. As frustrating and stressful as it is all you can do is all you can do is wait another couple of days and hope for the best. There is nothing you can do to help then hatch but you can harm them by interfering. Good luck!
I believe that I did put into consideration the full 24 hour mark when counting the days. I could remember incorrectly however. All my hens have laid by 3pm and I gave her the entire days lay plus a couple the following to give her 12 to sit on. 21 days later were down to 4. Broken either by her hand or others im unsure but all seemed to be undeveloped by my discovery.

I do trust a broody and agree their instinct tells them much more than we could understand. I think the last time she was broody all the eggs I gave her hatched a full day earlier than expected. I'm hopeful that they hatch or even pip in the next 24 hours. For her sake(last time I rehomed the chicks before she gave them up willingly...but wasn't defensive of her chicks. She's a complete sweetheart). That and I want her to snap out of the broody phase rather than it prolong due to all the eggs quitting.
 
Holy smokes! Day 26! Seems like an awfully late hatch! Did the chick survive?
3 out of 6 hatched one chick got pecked to death by another after mama got some food then the next day on day 26 the other t o hatched and they survived but they were both Roos so they went to my cousins and they are doing good there
 
3 out of 6 hatched one chick got pecked to death by another after mama got some food then the next day on day 26 the other t o hatched and they survived but they were both Roos so they went to my cousins and they are doing good there
After they all hatch(I'm hoping at the same "time" day really) that way I can keep them together. She chose the highest nest box to brood in. She's actually great at protecting them from the other hens but sweet as pie to us.
 

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