Have a Broody Sittin'

[ChickiKat]

I have a silkie brooding. We let her sit on 4 eggs and it has been about 14-15 days. Today she moved 3 of the eggs to the corner and covered them with bedding. They are quite cold now. She is still sitting on one and it feels very light weight. Did she reject the three others because they are not viable???

 

[nickrex98]

im 100% sure but i believe that she can tell if they are going to hatch or not

 

[poseygrace]

Sometimes they know they aren't viable. Sometimes the tiny voices in their head tell them to do things us humans will never understand... Who knows?

Have you tried candling them just to see? it's easy, check out the videos on YouTube. You could also crack them open and look at them if you are sure they have been cold awhile. I have done that and found it fascinating (and just a tad gross!) If you candle them and they are developing, you could sneak them back under her, provided they haven't been in the cold too long.

 

[Judy]

Chickens do odd things. She might have been trying to move her nest and simply stopped before she was finished. Candling would be a good idea. They can get quite cold and still hatch, sometimes part of a day later. When I've had something like this happen, I just put the eggs back under the hen.

 

[ChickiKat]

I thought of candling them. Or if they are still in the corner and cold I may crack them open. At first I thought the eggs were gone. But after digging in the bedding I found them tucked away and covered quite nicely. Maybe she put them in lockdown....

 

[ChickiKat]

Today's installment of this brooding is that she has pulled two of the covered eggs out of the corner and is sitting on them. They are not snugged up to the one she did not put in the corner, they are a few inches away. But they are close enough for her to cover them...

 

[pgpoultry]

Candle them, they may still be OK. I've had broody hens let eggs go VERY cold and still have a good hatch.

 

[ChickiKat]

So today I checked on the eggs under Piglet. This is about day 18. Two eggs are completely missing. One egg is still under her. And one egg was cracked open. I brought the open egg in and the little critter inside seemed to have been well on its way to being a normal chicken but it didn't have any feet. Fully formed body, good looking head, full legs but no feet. So very odd.