HELP! THE EGGS ROLLED OUT ON DAY 16

[littleredroost]

I am so so sad, the eggs under my broody rolled out from under her and are stone cold. I put them back under her and she is happily sitting on them. How long can the eggs stay alive after leaving the nest?

 

[The Chickeneer]

Well let me start of by saying

And the eggs can still be good up to six hours. If they dont end up hatching, you can just buy baby chicks at your feed store or wherever, then sneak them under her at night. She will think they are her chicks and will raise them.

 

[littleredroost]

THANK YOU! I will go hunting for chicks tomorrow but will candle the eggs this evening when it is dark. Can I put the chicks under in place of the eggs tomorrow? Do I take the eggs away and move the babes in straight away? Thank you so much for your help. XXX

 

[The Chickeneer]

Well your welcome.

The process of putting the chicks in has to be done over a period of a couple hours. During the night, calmly and quietly sneak and egg out and place a chick in it's place. After, you need to wait 15 minutes and then go again and wait 15 minutes and so on until the jobs done. The reason you need to wait between sneaking in each chick is so the hen has time to adjust and believe that they are hatching. If you put all the chicks in at one time, she'l know that the chicks are not hers and will reject them (peck them to death). This has happend to me so many times, so i should know. But if you sneak them i correctly, she will have no idea. I just recently got a hen to raise six ducklings, she protected them vigorously as if they were her own. So good luck, hope everything goes well

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why did the eggs roll out? Do you have a good lip on the nest to keep that from happening? Without a good lip, chicks might fall out, not just eggs.

I’ve had broodies wind up sitting on the wrong nest for hours. When they come back from their daily constitutional another hen is laying an egg in their nest so they set on another nest. The last time that happened the eggs were stone cold. I put the broody back on the right nest and she hatched 11 out of 11. Don’t give in to panic when you might not even have a problem. Late in incubation those chicks are pretty well developed and are generating a lot of heat internally. It’s not a good thing to happen but also not necessarily a disaster. It happens to a lot of us. Be patient.

If those eggs are bad, you need chicks that are very young, the younger the better. Under three days usually works really well. If they are older than that it gets more iffy. The best thing to do is slip the chicks under the hen at night after everything is dark and she has settled for the night. Using as little light and commotion, just slip the chicks under her in your hand, one at a time. When she wakes up the next morning, she should think they are hers.

This works almost all the time but you are dealing with living animals. There have been times the broody will not accept those chicks. Check fairly early the next morning to see how it is going. You may need to take the chicks and raise them yourself, but I’d expect he hen to take them.

Good luck!

 

[littleredroost]

Thank you so much. I will do as you say but will wait to see if the eggs had indeed got too cold to survive. I candles them last night and I think one is non fertile (seems empty!), the other three are so close to hatching that they look just black and have an air sack. But I see no movement, would I expect to this late on? They are tiny eggs, Lavender Pekins.

 

[littleredroost]

It was entirely my fault....the piece of wood forming the lip had been removed as the nest was so deep it all seemed safe but of course when the hen went to turn the eggs or just turn around herself, she must have nudged them out.
I will not give up on them yet.....if they are non viable, will they smell before due date which is Saturday, they rolled out Tuesday?
I would like to go get the day old's as soon as I can really, (if the eggs are not good) as she is looking like she has had enough now, she has sat so tight for the three weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Whether they are viable or not has nothing to do with them smelling. What causes the “rotten egg” smell is that bacteria gets inside the egg and grows. The egg is filled with nutrients and the hen keeps them at the perfect temperature for bacteria development. That’s one thing scientists use in the laboratory to grow certain bacteria, egg kept at 100 degrees.

If eggs are viable and developing and bacteria gets inside the bacteria will multiply, kill the embryo, and stink. If an egg is not viable and bacteria gets inside it will multiply and the egg stink. It has nothing to do with whether it is viable or not. Eggs can last months without going bad.

The three weeks is not a magic number for a broody. We often wait several days gathering eggs and making sure she is broody before starting them and the hen does fine. A hen has a lot of fat, especially in her pelvic region called a fat pad, that she can draw on while broody. A broody will lose a lot of weight while setting on the nest and not eating a lot, but that weight is fat that is put there for that reason. Don’t get impatient because you are worried about the hen and do something with the eggs you’ll regret.

At this stage they are supposed to be a solid black mass with an air cell. If one looks pretty clear it is no good. Egg shell color makes a difference in what you can see. Blue, green, or dark brown eggs can be pretty tough to see inside. I don’t always see movement when I candle at this stage. It’s sure exciting when you do. Again, just be patient.

I know it’s hard, especially the first time with a broody. You’re worried and want it to go well. Give that broody a chance. They’ve been doing this on instinct alone for thousands of years. And give those eggs a chance. Life can be pretty tough and will often surprise you. It’s possible this will not turn out well but it is also possible it will. I do wish you luck!

 

[littleredroost]

YAY!!!! She is hatching out two of the eggs so far.....she has sat for 23 days on Bantam eggs but as they rolled out of the nest and got cold, presumably she had to make up for lost time. I am so pleased though, I was convinced that they were all dead but so far one live chick, one half way out of the shell and the other two (maybe one as I candled the eggs on day 18 and one was transparent, so no good) still to start.
How long should I leave her in the nest with the lip? The chicks are so tiny that they would never get back in to the nest. And at what stage shall I remove the empty shells?
Thank you for all chickeny advise. It just goes to show how a bit of patience and care sometimes gets the results you need in life!
Charlotte

 

[jojosthings]

Why did the eggs roll out? Do you have a good lip on the nest to keep that from happening? Without a good lip, chicks might fall out, not just eggs.

I’ve had broodies wind up sitting on the wrong nest for hours. When they come back from their daily constitutional another hen is laying an egg in their nest so they set on another nest. The last time that happened the eggs were stone cold. I put the broody back on the right nest and she hatched 11 out of 11. Don’t give in to panic when you might not even have a problem. Late in incubation those chicks are pretty well developed and are generating a lot of heat internally. It’s not a good thing to happen but also not necessarily a disaster. It happens to a lot of us. Be patient.

If those eggs are bad, you need chicks that are very young, the younger the better. Under three days usually works really well. If they are older than that it gets more iffy. The best thing to do is slip the chicks under the hen at night after everything is dark and she has settled for the night. Using as little light and commotion, just slip the chicks under her in your hand, one at a time. When she wakes up the next morning, she should think they are hers.

This works almost all the time but you are dealing with living animals. There have been times the broody will not accept those chicks. Check fairly early the next morning to see how it is going. You may need to take the chicks and raise them yourself, but I’d expect he hen to take them.

Good luck!