Hatching of Chicks

[ucelekwa]

Please I need opinions.
I found my hen gasping last night and eventually died. I was confused on what to do with the eggs as they were 2 days away from being hatched.
I have decided to try out incubating them for the rest of the remaining days but my question is :

Will the eggs still remain viable as I took this decision almost 12 hours after her death?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Oh no! I'm so sorry!
It's hard to say, it depends on just how cold they got in that timeframe but there's no harm in trying! I find that the farther along they are, the more tolerant the embryo is to temperature change so I think there's a chance that some of them will be ok! Just keep in mind that the cold period will likely delay the hatch by the same number of hours they were cooler. Good luck! Keep us updated!

 

[ucelekwa]

Thank you for your response. I will definitely post updates

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm sorry you lost your hen and hope some of your eggs survived. Any idea what happened to her? Had she been eating and drinking enough, do you think?

 

[ucelekwa]

I don't really know what happened. Saw it fitting. A neighbor is suggesting it could be Newcastle disease as some other Fowl of his had similar symptom recently

 

[ucelekwa]

Do you have an idea of a better home made Incubator that can be used?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Better than what? You could use an electric blanket if it has a adjustable dial to regulate heat. Anything that gets you 98-100F will do for last few days.

The 12 hour delay in reheating shouldn't affect them much.