Hen gone broody! Question about eggs...

[NicoleMarieDolphin]

My black cochin hen has gone broody, but I am worried the eggs might be duds. She has had exposure to a rooster every day, they had a little romance so I'm certain they're fertilized.

But two days before she went broody, when we went to let her out at 9am she was sitting on the eggs but then she left at noon and didn't come back at all until this new "broody for real" period, where she has not left the eggs for more than a second since then and has kept the eggs clean. It seems like she has been a good mother to them. She was always turning them and checking up on them while they accumulated, she pushed two chipped duds out of the nest.

I'm afraid that during the "temporarily broody" period the eggs started to develop. She was on the nest for at least 3 hours, maybe more like six if she sat on them right after dawn. And the day before she was chased by a dog so I was thinking maybe this riled her up and she decided to abandon them and then changed her mind without realizing it doesn't work like that. When I looked at the eggs after she left they had little feathers among them like they say hens sometimes put there to regulate temperature.

In fact, we were so certain that she had abandoned them that we took them back inside to throw away, but then she got all upset and laid an egg and sat on it all broody looking, so we put the eggs back and she's been on them ever since. It really seems like us taking the eggs for duds is what provoked her to sit. My boyfriend also said she was near the nest when he took them so maybe he literally just took them right before she was about to sit...

Basically, I am wondering if 3-6 hours is enough time to create the environment for the eggs to start to develop. Or based on all the different factors, the dog scare, the generally good mother-ness, etc, what are the odds she is sitting on a bunch of duds?

Thanks for your help! I am very confused.

 

[Judy]

My bet is they will hatch. They can cool off for quite a while and still hatch. Sometimes the hatch gets delayed a little. I wouldn't toss them, for sure. Why don't you giver her a chance to hatch them?

 

[NicoleMarieDolphin]

Awesome! I appreciate your help and vote of confidence. I am hoping they hatch for sure!

Yeah, she's been sitting on them diligently since we put them back in there. We fed her some tofu cause its her favorite treat and she ate it right out of our hands. She's such a cutie! I really hope they hatch. She survived a cat attack when she was just a one month old pullet and so we named her Vivian since is means "living/alive" in Latin... and now she's having babies! Its like life really does pull through.. I hope. Plus after having been chased by a dog too, I just feel like she really deserves some happy peaceful motherhood time after all the stressful incidents life has thrown at her.

Also, for the past two days (since the first went broody "for real") we've been sneaking the other hen's fertilized eggs under her so in case they are duds at least she'll have one or two babies to raise, even if they aren't "hers" (although I wonder if she'll be confused about spash andalusian babies since she's a black cochin.) The first one we slipped in within 12 hours of her going broody, the second one after 36 hours.

Do you think we could slip in another one? or would that mess too much with the 21 day thing? I was thinking we could possibly keep slipping them in for a few more days. I read that after 2 weeks of "incubating" the chicks start to chirp inside the shell. I can't imagine she'd stop tending to eggs if she can hear little chirps coming from them.

But again, I appreciate your input, it gives me faith that we will have new baby chirpies soon!