Eggs Under Our Broody Hen are Very Shiny. Is this normal?

[Gallus123]

Our broody hen, Abeona, has been sitting on 8 eggs for one week so far. We hope they are fertilized (we had a Rooster until very recently - but we had to put him down - RIP Roopert)....
Abeona is a perfect sitter. She leaves only once a day to eat, poop and bathe. While she was out snacking today, I noticed the eggs were very shiny. Even though they didn't smell bad at all, I still totally panicked, thinking something was wrong. I tried to wipe the gloss off with the inside of my (clean & dry) sweater, but of course it didn't make a difference to the "shine"...
Then I read in another post that someone else had noticed shiny eggs. They postulated it was due to skin oils from the broody hen. Is this true? Is this normal?
Have I ruined all the eggs by wiping them with the cloth? I hope not. If you have any info, please help!
Many thanks!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Our broody hen, Abeona, has been sitting on 8 eggs for one week so far. We hope they are fertilized (we had a Rooster until very recently - but we had to put him down - RIP Roopert)....
Abeona is a perfect sitter. She leaves only once a day to eat, poop and bathe. While she was out snacking today, I noticed the eggs were very shiny. Even though they didn't smell bad at all, I still totally panicked, thinking something was wrong. I tried to wipe the gloss off with the inside of my (clean & dry) sweater, but of course it didn't make a difference to the "shine"...
Then I read in another post that someone else had noticed shiny eggs. They postulated it was due to skin oils from the broody hen. Is this true? Is this normal?
Have I ruined all the eggs by wiping them with the cloth? I hope not. If you have any info, please help!
Many thanks!

Never experienced this Glossyness you're talking about, & I've hatched eggs from broody hens a few times.

Have you candled the eggs at all?

 

[Gallus123]

Never experienced this Glossyness you're talking about, & I've hatched eggs from broody hens a few times.

Have you candled the eggs at all?

Wow! Thanks so much for responding! This is only our second time with a broody hen. I don't remember her brood eggs being so shiny last year. Hubby plans to candle them this weekend (with our 8 year old nephew - some fun for the kids). Hubby has candled incubator eggs in the past - so he knows what to look for. The eggs will be 10 days old by then. Hopefully it's OK to wait that long?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Wow! Thanks so much for responding! This is only our second time with a broody hen. I don't remember her brood eggs being so shiny last year. Hubby plans to candle them this weekend (with our 8 year old nephew - some fun for the kids). Hubby has candled incubator eggs in the past - so he knows what to look for. The eggs will be 10 days old by then. Hopefully it's OK to wait that long?

You can, but it's best if you candle on the 7th day, the 10th day, 14th day, 16th day, & a check up on day 18, then leave them alone.

 

[Gallus123]

You can, but it's best if you candle on the 7th day, the 10th day, 14th day, 16th day, & a check up on day 18, then leave them alone.

We missed Day 7, but will start on Day 10. Thanks again for your input. If it's good news, I will be sure to report back! : )

 

[MysteryChicken]

We missed Day 7, but will start on Day 10. Thanks again for your input. If it's good news, I will be sure to report back! : )

That's okay.

Okay, sounds good.

 

[Jenessa_096]

What happened? Did any hatch? I hope you have good news..