day 23and 24.....*UPDATED!!!!!8/25**

[fishnet1971]

how long do i wait??????? they are floating when i put them in water, she's on them 24/7. none are leaking. Any advise?????

 

[GoldenSparrow]

puting them in the water was not the best thing. the shells can absorb the water and drown chicks.
however you could wait a little longer. my chicks came on the 28th day!
I hope they hatch
also the mother hen will know if there alive. she can feel them move in the eggs.
If she leaves them for good soon. I think you will know the answer.

Good luck.

 

[fishnet1971]

they were in the water no more than 1/2 second. just to see if they floated or sank. not even out of my hand. I really REALLY thought they would sink. I had what I thought to be some leakage the other day from one, and it didnt smell to good. I still dont think they are going to hatch. Dont mean to be a pessimist. I hope they do!

She is trying sooooo hard to be a good momma. She will NOT leave the nest since day one unless i take her off of it. I was on vacation for three days, let my neighbor let them in and out for me (they spoil them as bad as I do!). Angel never got off the nest ONCE. she didnt eat, nothing. When i got back she was almost gone. just a blob of feathers on two eggs. I got some mash down her, water, etc. took her off the nest for 15 min. and let her walk for aminute or two. She couldnt even get up without my help. She drank water like there was no tomorrow. that was last Sunday. Today, she is eating if I put it in her hand, i can get her off the nest for a break for 10, and she is back to the 'broody poo' that we all just so love so much......

I wasnt really worried, thought "she knows best and what she is doing" I am not so sure!!!!!

She will just leave them if they dont hatch soon?

 

[GoldenSparrow]

well, I am not positive she will leave them if they dont hatch, considering how hard shes working to have them hatch.

my hen was like your, I had to take her off to have some time to eat, drink...

I really hope they hatch too, I would feel bad for momma hen.

try candling them.
are you sure there fertial?

 

[fishnet1971]

She broke one week or so back and it was so small inside, the size of a pea. never developed. They are dark brown eggs. I was told that candleing them wouldnt do any good. I tried a bright flashlight and couldnt see anything. The eggs are heavy in weight.

 

[djennings]

Can you hold one to your ear and see if you can hear any peeping or pecking?

 

[fishnet1971]

yup, i did just that twice a day. picked it up, listened to it, etc. nothing. put it back under Angel exactly as it was. Poor baby, Angel is such a trooper. She just looks at me with these sad eyes like 'why momma?????' what did I do?'

 

[Gypsy07]

My broody hen recently hatched out three perfect chicks on day 25 or 26, I can't remember exactly which. So don't give up yet! I also did the float test and the listening for pecking on day 22-23 and wasn't too hopeful, but obviously the reason I didn't hear any pecking was just because they weren't quite ready to hatch when I did it. And the only way you could drown unpipped chicks by floating them in water would be if you left them there for hours, as the shell doesn't let in water quickly at all. In fact, one of my perfect chickies sat floating in a big pan of water for longer than 10 minutes, as I was almost convinced it was dead and wasn't going to hatch. I only stuck it back under the hen in a fit of extreme optimism. So I wouldn't worry about drowning your chicks by doing the float test.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

I also did the float test and the listening for pecking on day 22-23 and wasn't too hopeful, but obviously the reason I didn't hear any pecking was just because they weren't quite ready to hatch when I did it. And the only way you could drown unpipped chicks by floating them in water would be if you left them there for hours, as the shell doesn't let in water quickly at all.

Oh,
someone told me that the eggs would absorb bacteria? and that could harm the chicks​

 

[Gypsy07]

Well, eggs CAN absorb bacteria, yes. That's why you should wash your hands thoroughly before handling or candling your hatching eggs. But if you've got healthy embryos that have made it as far as day 23 (which is the earliest I would float a late egg) in all probability they aren't going to be affected by bacterial contamination at that late stage. If you use a clean pan, and warm water straight out of your tap (boiled and cooled if you know your tap water isn't good for drinking), and float the egg for just one minute, it won't absorb any water through the shell in that quick time.

I know some people really don't like the float test, but I've used it loads of times and find it very helpful and in no way detrimental to the chicks. I've also read some reports on BYC of chicks that ended up drowned in the shells after being float tested, but thinking about how quickly water is absorbed by the egg through the shell and being logical about it, I'd bet just about anything that those chicks would have drowned even without being float tested, due to being over-humidified right through the incubation...