Eggs not hatching!!! Please help!!!

[Debbiedoobs]

Hi,
I've got a broody sitting on 10 fertilised eggs but they've not hatched yet.

I put them under her on the 25th may which makes this the 23rd day and so far nothing has happened. I picked the eggs up from a local award winning breeder and put them under the same day, she didnt move from them for 6 days and wouldn't eat or drink.I then decided to nudge her off daily to encourage her to eat, drink and poo. She has been completely commited so i cant understand what has gone wrong. Has anyone got any ideas please cos its driving me insane, im completely gutted as i was so excited to be having chicks.

Thanks, Debbie.

 

[sumi]

Have you candled the eggs at any stage to check if they are developing? I have had a late hatch under a broody once, they started on day 22 only and finished on day 25, but day 23 is pushing it a little.

 

[Debbiedoobs]

We decided not to candle as we didnt really no what to look for. I'm definitely goin to have a look later though so i can know whether they'll hatch or not. I tried gently tapping them earlier and had no movement. Hope they're just late but got a feeling that i'm bein unrealistic.

 

[kkowa]

try candling take a high power flash light and put on the side if eggs are all black except for a little air cell give them a 2-3 more days if nothing discard

 

[Debbiedoobs]

Hi, i candled them last night. 2-3 completely see through, 1-2 with a little growth and then the rest looked like there were something big in them with an air sac at the top end, There was one that had an air sac on the side too. So today is the 24th day and i've still not heard any noises from them. Does anyone have any tips for next time? We really dont know where we went wrong so any help would be great!

 

[sumi]

Since this was under a broody it's difficult to pinpoint the problem. I suspect it was with the eggs, they may have been old, handled incorrectly prior to setting, exposed to too hold or too cld temperatures at some stage... Could you possibly get some day-old chicks somewhere for your hen to raise? Even if it's just 2 or 3. The eggs that candled dark might still hatch, but at this stage I doubt it. For future reference and incubator hatches there is a lot of great information here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Debbiedoobs]

We picked the eggs our self from the breeder, we went to him and collected the eggs that had been freshly layed that morning and put them straight under the broody when we got home.SHe didnt hget off them at all for 6 days, after that i nudged her off to get food etc daily untill the 18th day. Thanks for the info x

 

[Debbiedoobs]

So...things get weirder and weirder. Tonight i plucked up the courage to crack open the eggs and they all were undeveloped, with no blood, just watery goo! I've looked on the development chart and does that mean they stopped at age 3-4 days? They didn't smell really, just a bit off but not eggy. So why would they all not develop to at least 6 days if the broody didnt leave her nest?