eggs

[angie 2345]

thanks for advice its day 7 today. came down this morring opened coop and one of the hens has put 2 of the eggs out of the nest dont now if she has done rolled them out or they have fell out while she has been moving around i put one back but was very cold other one was cracked and smelled bad do hens no if the eggs are bad

 

[1muttsfan]

You might post this question in the Incubating and Hatching Eggs section, there are lots of experienced hatchers that hang out there. Go above to the Forum, then Raising Backyard Chickens, then Incubating and Hatching Eggs. Good luck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sometimes eggs get accidently knocked out off the nest. That is especially likely to happen if you have a low lip on the front holding things in or another hen lays in that nest.

Sometimes the hen may reject a bad egg. But a lot of times they don't reject bad eggs but leave the bad ones under them.

If you find an egg out of the nest, check it out for problems. Smell it and look for physical damage. If it appears fine, put an identifying mark on it and put it back under her, even if it is cold. If that specific egg gets knocked out again you might consider tossing it, but I'd certainly smell it and candle it first. You don't want an egg to explode in the nest, which rarely but sometimes happens, but you don't want to throw away a viable egg either.

If you are finding eggs out of the nest, you might look at how the nest is made. Is there a reason eggs are getting knocked out, like maybe a low lip?

People get all concerned about cold eggs. In my last broody hatch, the broody went to the wrong nest, probably because a hen was laying in her nest when she came back from her daily constitutional. When I found her, the eggs were very cold. I put her back on the right nest. She hatched 11 out of 11. Those eggs are a lot tougher than many people believe.

 

[redsoxs]

I second what Ridgerunner advised. Good luck to you!

 

[jbirds2012]

x3 on ridgerunner's advice.

 

[sumi]

x4 Good luck!

 

[weimarmama]

x5 Lots of good luck