speckled6
Chirping
Ok y'all, I need some help.
I have a broody hen(BLRW splash-big girl) She's been in her nest box for about a month now I'd guess, maybe a week or so more.
At first we we're removing the eggs daily and shooing her out of the box b/c it's the favorite box for all my hens.
Then she became very aggressive toward my kids and eggs didn't get collected daily for a few days (unbeknownst to me b/c I work 2nd shift and didn't do the final check)
Anyway, this broody is aggressive toward humans and some hens, but has no issue with the leghorns, so odd, and leghorns kept laying in the box.
Sunday afternoon, a chick hatched! Then Monday, another one was in the nest box that we didn't even see hatch like the first one.
My nest boxes are well off the ground and I'm afraid to move mama and the eggs so late in the game, so we set up a brooder box and have been taking the newly hatched babes there.
5 have hatched, 1 died b/c the broody squished it, 1 was an assisted hatch. There was a cracked egg in the nest box tonight. The shell was pulled away from the membrane, membrane dried and really white and everything inside was sloshing around, so I assume it was stepped on before being ready to hatch and died.
So, I tried candling the eggs remaining. Some were new eggs, clear, b/c the leghorns have continued to lay in there. I think there were too many eggs (28!) so I removed any that we're clear and obviously not hatching any time soon. I think I brought the number down to 21??? And I marked an "X" in pencil on the remaining eggs so I know which are the possible chicks.
Oh, I should mention, this was quite an accidental hatching as I didn't know how long she'd been sitting on eggs and also the first time I have ever had any eggs hatch, no incubator here or I would have grabbed them all and stuck them in there.
Anyway, some of the eggs I could see an air sack, but it was sideways along the shell, some air pockets at one end of the egg of varying sizes, some were solid black with no air pocket and some looked like the pics of a 14-16 day development that I saw online.
What do the all dark eggs indicate? Are those dead in the shell? I saw no movement, but I didn't know when I candled that was possible, so didn't look for it.
I was picking the hen up and moving her to look at the eggs and see if there were any pips, but now I just lift her up a bit (how I found the broken egg)
What should I do? Just leave the eggs and see what hatches? Try to candle again and see if there's movement or if I can get a better idea of how far developed they are? What should I look for if I do candle?
Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but after 3 days of online searches I have more questions than answers.
Thanks in advance for any help.
I have a broody hen(BLRW splash-big girl) She's been in her nest box for about a month now I'd guess, maybe a week or so more.
At first we we're removing the eggs daily and shooing her out of the box b/c it's the favorite box for all my hens.
Then she became very aggressive toward my kids and eggs didn't get collected daily for a few days (unbeknownst to me b/c I work 2nd shift and didn't do the final check)
Anyway, this broody is aggressive toward humans and some hens, but has no issue with the leghorns, so odd, and leghorns kept laying in the box.
Sunday afternoon, a chick hatched! Then Monday, another one was in the nest box that we didn't even see hatch like the first one.
My nest boxes are well off the ground and I'm afraid to move mama and the eggs so late in the game, so we set up a brooder box and have been taking the newly hatched babes there.
5 have hatched, 1 died b/c the broody squished it, 1 was an assisted hatch. There was a cracked egg in the nest box tonight. The shell was pulled away from the membrane, membrane dried and really white and everything inside was sloshing around, so I assume it was stepped on before being ready to hatch and died.
So, I tried candling the eggs remaining. Some were new eggs, clear, b/c the leghorns have continued to lay in there. I think there were too many eggs (28!) so I removed any that we're clear and obviously not hatching any time soon. I think I brought the number down to 21??? And I marked an "X" in pencil on the remaining eggs so I know which are the possible chicks.
Oh, I should mention, this was quite an accidental hatching as I didn't know how long she'd been sitting on eggs and also the first time I have ever had any eggs hatch, no incubator here or I would have grabbed them all and stuck them in there.
Anyway, some of the eggs I could see an air sack, but it was sideways along the shell, some air pockets at one end of the egg of varying sizes, some were solid black with no air pocket and some looked like the pics of a 14-16 day development that I saw online.
What do the all dark eggs indicate? Are those dead in the shell? I saw no movement, but I didn't know when I candled that was possible, so didn't look for it.
I was picking the hen up and moving her to look at the eggs and see if there were any pips, but now I just lift her up a bit (how I found the broken egg)
What should I do? Just leave the eggs and see what hatches? Try to candle again and see if there's movement or if I can get a better idea of how far developed they are? What should I look for if I do candle?
Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but after 3 days of online searches I have more questions than answers.
Thanks in advance for any help.
oh my I could imagine!! Any pictures?? But ugh of course!! I can't tell what my chicks are so far, but I'm definitely hoping girls!! It's so hard to leave them alone though! I keep having to remind myself to not open the incubator 
but not a problem!! And for sure!!
it's so exciting!!
so I'll post one soon!!
