Float test on non-incubated eggs.

[Christi11]

I had a hen go broody. I got 12 fertilized eggs from two different sources. The first set of 6 hatched 7/29. The 2nd set has not. I got them on 7/11, but really don't know when they were laid, but if we assume they were laid on the morning of the 11th, then 21 days would be 8/1. I have candled them, but this is my first time and I didn't know that I should have marked the air sacs. The air sacs look unchanged, but I really don't know that for a fact. All of them except one looks viable. Dark at the bottom, veins up around the air sac, except one that appears to have a detached air sac, it just bubbles all around. So today I did a float test. The one with the detached air sac floated, but was slightly on its side, the others appear to float "low" (per some of the pictures I have seen), but definitely don't sink completely. I did not see any movement.

These are hen raised and not incubated. From my observations she has been a great mother and has not been getting off the nest. What are my options? If they are dead I need to remove them and let her concentrate on her new chicks, but I don't want to take them if I don't KNOW they are dead.

Do I give them another week, or has it definitely been too long to expect a live chick?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Pyxis]

Did the hen start sitting on them on 7/11? 21 days is not counted from when they were laid, but from when the hen began sitting on them. If you're still seeing veins then they may still hatch. When eggs die the veins usually disintegrate.

Also I'm confused, were these all under one hen? Did you take the chicks when they hatched? If not she's been up and caring for the chicks for a week and not on the eggs, which means they are very unlikely to hatch. You should put them in an incubator if you want to try to still hatch them. You should never stagger hatch under a broody, because this is what happens, unfortunately.

 

[Christi11]

Yes, she was sitting on the first 6 when I added these so she began sitting on 7/11. I think I got the first six on Wednesday and then these on Saturday, so only a few days apart.

I moved them to a small brooding cage, she has been sitting on them even since the other chicks hatched. She gets out for about 30 minutes twice a day, other than that she is in the brooding cage. Every time I have checked on her she is on the eggs, not on the side with the food and water.

I don't have an incubator so she is my only option.

Thanks!

 

[Pyxis]

You're welcome!

Hmm, if they're six days late, they are probably goners, sadly I've had eggs hatch as late as day 25, but that was a one time thing, and never later than that, and that was in an incubator when a temperature fluctuation caused the late hatch. You can leave them with her for a few more days if you want to be sure, but after that, they are probably not gonna hatch.

 

[Christi11]

Thanks. I will give them to Sunday, if nothing happens by then I will pull them out.

Have a great weekend!

 

[Pyxis]

You too