HELP!! How long can a broody hen safely leave her nest?

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

my broody has been sitting for 7 days in a nest of 10 eggs. I checked on her this morning, went to bed, and when I woke up this afternoon to go check on her she was on a different nest! She left all 10 eggs in the original nest. They were cold and so was the nest. The temp today in or area barely hit 60°. My question is, are these eggs savable or are they a total loss? She’s had to have been off of them for several hours

 

[sylviethecochin]

It takes a while for the middle of the eggs to cool down, and it's not freezing. We can't know that they're saveable, but they have a pretty good chance. Get her back on the nest, wait two days, and then candle.

Good luck.

 

[sourland]

If they were viable to begin with, they should still hatch. I would candle in a day or so just to make sure.

 

[sylviethecochin]

x2, my good sir!

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

Thank you both for answering so quickly! I candles them all really quick and several of them looked like they might be. Honestly I have a hard time with candling and recognizing what I’m seeing. The ones I assumed were viable all looked like half the egg was dark. Is this what I’m supposed to be seeing or is that just the yolk? If the egg is completely lit up with no shadow, that’s when you know they’re not good right?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Thank you both for answering so quickly! I candles them all really quick and several of them looked like they might be. Honestly I have a hard time with candling and recognizing what I’m seeing. The ones I assumed were viable all looked like half the egg was dark. Is this what I’m supposed to be seeing or is that just the yolk? If the egg is completely lit up with no shadow, that’s when you know they’re not good right?

Correct. But if they died of chilling, they might still be dying. Wait a day or so and then look to see if they're still moving.

And this link might help you candle: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ion-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs.47879/

 

[lazy gardener]

As other posters have stated, wait a couple of days and candle again. Leave the eggs alone for now. Unless you are candling in a completely dark room, with a very good light, you are not likely to see much. I always look for movement. Go to "hatching eggs 101" in the learning center for more details about candling eggs and embryonic development. There is even a section in that lengthy article about viability with interrupted incubation.

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

Thank you! So, since she wasn’t sitting on any of them, I brought them inside to my bedroom to cancel them. I sleep during the day so it’s very dark in there. One of the eggs I was pretty positive wasn’t even fertilized. Another one of the eggs I thought I saw a blood ring, and three of the other eggs hadn’t made any change since the last time I candled them. The rest looked good to me so I put them back under her. I decided to open up the five that were questionable. Of those five, the one that I thought wasn’t, was not fertilized, three had developing chicks in them but no heart beats, and unfortunately one of them was still alive. I’m sad that I killed this baby, but I am encouraged because that means the other four may still be alive! IlI’m going to leave her alone for a couple of days and candle again. Thank you all so much for your quick response and advice! I’ve been researching broody hens and chicks ever since she went Brody, but there is no replacement for experience!

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

This was interesting though, all of the developing chicks were about the same size except one which was MUCH bigger. She initially had one egg, this must have been him! I’m thankful he wasn’t alive or I would have felt absolutely awful!

 

[LovinThisFarmGirlLife]

UPDATE!

So I candled the remaining 4 eggs tonight. I didn’t see movement in any of them, but I didn’t see blood rings in any of them either. Also, maybe I’m just being hopeful, but the shadowy area looked bigger in all of them. Sooo what do the experts think? Good sign?