Eggs not hatching ....what now?

[mvinotime]

HI. I have a hen laying on 7 eggs and it has gone past 21 days by about 3-4 days now and I see no activity at all. Half these eggs were hers and I dont have a rooster so I knew they wouldnt be fertile but when she went broody I grabbed afew frommy dads hens (he has a rooster) and added in with her. My question is I dont think anything is going to hatch but she has NO intention of leaving as far as I can see so what are my options now? Can I remove all the eggs she has now and replace them with a new batch from my dad? Will she stay for another 21 days? I had another go broody and used my dads eggs as she had none of her own and out of four eggs I got two nice little chicks that are two weeks old now. Would love to hear some suggestions. Thank yhou.

 

[bobbi-j]

I wouldn't give her more eggs. I can't say one way or another if she'd stay setting for another 21 days, but I wouldn't want her to get them started and then abandon them halfway through. I had a hen set on a clutch that didn't hatch so I bought her some babies to raise. I did it at night - slipped the babies in under her, and took the eggs out. She was a good mama to them. It was pretty cute. She was a bantam cochin and these were all LF chicks, so it wasn't long until her babies were almost as big as she was!