Help advice needed, fetile eggs going chilly

[paws]

Hi , i have had several broody hens sat on eggs of which 13 have hatched but i know find the hens getting restless and not sitting n remaining eggs, today on going out i find the eggs have started to chill off, I've set the incubator going but recomended 24 hrs on in advance, Asking as hens not sitting on eggs would i be best sticking straight in incubator , walking round with them in my bra for heat or what for the next few hrs ?

 

[trailrider330]

How many days have they been sitting on the eggs? Do you know that the remaining eggs are viable? It is possible that these eggs are not going to hatch and the hens know it.

 

[paws]

The eggs were candled by us on sat and all viable at that point , cant say how long they have been sat on as we were away on hols as kids were supposed to have been doing necessary..... but candling showed some closer then other , any not good we disposed of then, its just now we have several hens wanting to play mother to these13 chicks and the house has been a little disrupted, i dont know whether to remove or bring in and finish in incubation rather then lose them

 

[trailrider330]

Is there any movement or pipping in any of the eggs?
I guess it can't hurt to put them in the incubator but in my experience with broodies they seem to know which are going to hatch and which are not.
How reliable is your incubator?

 

[paws]

its good, we hatched 28 /30 eggs just before we went away from incubator, wasnt planning on another hatch this yr. other half normally candles at night when things quiet in coops.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like you have what we call a staggered hatch. All the eggs were not started at the same time. That can happen when you’re not around. Hens normally do know when a hatch is over but if it is a staggered hatch she has to decide whether to take care of the living that have hatched or wait for chicks that might hatch. Most choose the ones already hatched.

The reason you start the incubator 24 hours early is to check it out to make sure it is working properly before you start eggs. You have an emergency. Get the eggs in it now. If it was working properly the last time you used it then it should work OK now. Just check it once it gets warmed up.