Ok here's the short of it. I'm in GA. I got a Barred Rock hen setting on 8 eggs. I checked one and it was fertile (checked by cracking and looking for halo). This week we've been having temps in the 100's. Yesterday was a cool 93, don't know about today but I don't think it got to 100. I noticed a couple of days ago that when I walked in my backyard something smelled dead. Figured my dog had drug something up. But today I saw the broody hen taking her break off the eggs so I decided to check on them and realized it was the eggs that were stinking. There were flies flying all around them. I don't know what to do. She's been setting almost two weeks. Are they bad? Did it get too hot?? BTW she's in a dog house setting. The dog house had pine straw in it so that's what the eggs are on. There is some black liquid in the dog house, maybe some of her poo?? Should I clean that out? Maybe that's what is stinking and not the eggs? I just don't know. Please help, thanks!
I would VERY carefully pick each egg up and sniff it in case one was rotten. The black stuff could be the hens' poo, when they sit for awhile, they kinda store up their poo, so when they do finally go, there is alot of it, it is often black and VERY stinky (yes, like something died!) She may poo'ed in the house. Be careful with the eggs because a bad egg can explode extreme nastiness all over everything at just the touch of your hand. The extreme heat may have caused chicks to die in the shell and then rot, so I would check them, but, again,very carefully. You could clean the mess, or wait it out 1 more week till hatch, but still check the eggs just in case. Good luck and I hope its just poo and not the eggs making the stink!