Dirty eggs

[meholmes]

My hen has been sitting for 5 days. Checked her nest this afternoon while she got out for some exercise and found two eggs had been crushed. I understand things happen however my question is should I try to clean out the mess from the nest in order to get the remaining eggs out of the spent yolks. With 100 degree temps in South Mississippi and no relief in site you can imagine the stinch. Also, I worry about bacteria.

On a side note, my hen seems to hate bedding in her nest. Thus, eggs are sitting in hard bottomed nesting boxes. Big deal or leave it alone?

 

[M@M@2four]

I've had this happen, so I what I do is quickly remove the broody hen, collect clean eggs, candle to see if they are viable. If they are viable and dirty with old yolk mess, wipe them off with a damp cloth, clean out the nesting box and I put down DE or spray the area for mites, then put fresh pine or straw down and place viable eggs on the bedding and just set the hen back on her eggs. She'll be annoyed for a few seconds, but happy to have a clean box to sit in. Imagine, she's gotta smell that nasty smell with the heat while she's sitting. Also, with the heat, I use pine, not hay or straw--they absorb heat, which the poor hen doesn't need any more of right now while sitting! Good luck!

EDITED TO ADD: just saw you are a NEW MEMBER!!!