- May 4, 2014
- 3
- 0
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Hi All,
I'm a newbie here but have enjoyed browsing the forum for a while now and learning lots!
I have a first time broody hen, she's a bantam Australorp x Orpington. So we bought her 6 Rhodie x Light Sussex supposedly fertile eggs from eBay. (Ive heard mixed results from buying eggs on eBay bought we thought we'd give it a try anyway.) She seems to be sitting well and fiercely guarding her eggs. Unfortunately on has been smashed leaving us with only 5 eggs but hey ho, it happens.
I have two other birds in the run and sharing her coop/nest box so when the other girls lay their eggs she has been scooping them under her wing into her nest as well. We have been trying to remove them without her noticing so she can concentrate on the fertile eggs. When I check on her this morning she was sitting on her eggs including two that the other girls had hatched (non fertile). Unfortunately that meant that one of the fertile eggs had been pushed out to the side of her. When I felt it, it felt cooler than the others. I'm just worried that she has killed a potential embryo by letting it cool - do you think she has? Or do you think it was warm enough to stay alive since it was just off to the side of her.
I read somewhere that broody a instinctively know which are non viable/non fertile eggs so I thought maybe this is why she's done it but then why would she sit on the non fertile eggs if that was the case?
I know I'm over analysing this, it's just I've heard that posted eggs from eBay can lose some of their viability with being thrown around in the post, then one smashed and in worrying that if she isn't keep some of them warm enough we might have even less of a chance of any hatching :-/
I'd love to hear others experience of hatching with a broody?
Cate
I'm a newbie here but have enjoyed browsing the forum for a while now and learning lots!
I have a first time broody hen, she's a bantam Australorp x Orpington. So we bought her 6 Rhodie x Light Sussex supposedly fertile eggs from eBay. (Ive heard mixed results from buying eggs on eBay bought we thought we'd give it a try anyway.) She seems to be sitting well and fiercely guarding her eggs. Unfortunately on has been smashed leaving us with only 5 eggs but hey ho, it happens.
I have two other birds in the run and sharing her coop/nest box so when the other girls lay their eggs she has been scooping them under her wing into her nest as well. We have been trying to remove them without her noticing so she can concentrate on the fertile eggs. When I check on her this morning she was sitting on her eggs including two that the other girls had hatched (non fertile). Unfortunately that meant that one of the fertile eggs had been pushed out to the side of her. When I felt it, it felt cooler than the others. I'm just worried that she has killed a potential embryo by letting it cool - do you think she has? Or do you think it was warm enough to stay alive since it was just off to the side of her.
I read somewhere that broody a instinctively know which are non viable/non fertile eggs so I thought maybe this is why she's done it but then why would she sit on the non fertile eggs if that was the case?
I know I'm over analysing this, it's just I've heard that posted eggs from eBay can lose some of their viability with being thrown around in the post, then one smashed and in worrying that if she isn't keep some of them warm enough we might have even less of a chance of any hatching :-/
I'd love to hear others experience of hatching with a broody?
Cate
