Do I trust her instincts?

[binza1979]

I have a broody SLW...my first broody ever. I am convinced she went broody just because she was both of our roosters favorite girl.

Anyway, I am not sure the time frame of when she really got to being serious. I think it has been past 21 days, but I'm not really sure. She has thrown out some of the original eggs she started with (not sure where they went exactly, but they are not under her and there are no where else to be found), but she is still sitting on about 7. I have candled them, but I don't know what I'm looking for. There is a huge dark space that I can't see into and then I can see the air sack...

So, do I trust her instincts? Will she give up if the eggs don't hatch?

Oh, and the broodiness is contagious...one of my black rosecomb bantams has caught the broody fever and is currently sitting on 3 LF eggs.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[HEChicken]

What you are describing sounds like a chick. If there were no chick developing, the whole egg would look clear rather than dark, on candling. If most of the egg is black except for the air cell, they are very close to hatching so at this point, I would leave them alone and let her do her thing. If none hatch, yes, eventually she will give up, but let's hope they do. After all their effort sitting for three weeks, I hate for them to do all that for nothing.

 

[cochins1088]

I agree that it's probably a chick that should hatch within about 4 days. But there is one other posibility, rotten eggs get dark when you look at them with a flashlight. You would know if they were rotten, they have this horrible odor that you can smell through the shell and if you find one, take it out qickly and carefully because depending how bad they are, they can explode from the gases built up inside of them. Just thought I should warn you. Lets hope for no rooten eggs and a while bunch of little chicks. Good Luck!

 

[binza1979]

No chicks yet, but no stinky eggs either! I candled two eggs yesterday and found movement in them so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!