Egg Question

[DaddyChicken]

I have five hens and one busy rooster. My White Wyandotte has been sitting on some eggs for two-and-a-half weeks. When I first missed her in the back yard and found her in the coop, she was sitting on about 6 eggs. Since then other hens have layed near her and she scooped the eggs up and is now sitting on 15 eggs.

Here's the problem, I forgot to let them out of the coop before church yesterday morning and when I did let them out later, the door closed and I didn't notice until late in the afternoon so she was off the eggs for between four to seven hours.

Is there any chance that any of the chicks will survive and hatch when the time is right? Thanks

 

[Ridgerunner]

I seriously doubt that’s a problem. By that age the chicks in the eggs are generating a lot of heat on their own. Unless you had some serious cold weather in Georgia this time of year they should be fine.

The problem is that you have all those other eggs that won’t hatch. It’s called a staggered hatch. When the first chicks that hatch start to get hungry and thirsty the broody will almost certainly abandon the rest of the eggs and take those chicks to find food and water. Any chicks developing in the abandoned eggs will die unless you take them and incubate them.

I strongly suggest next time you have broody you collect all the eggs you want her to hatch, mark them so you can identify them, and check under her once a day to remove any eggs that don’t belong.