Hen was off her eggs for a while- are they all dead now?

[shannoncat]

She's been sitting on them since Sunday and we had a barrier in the coop to keep the other chickens from her, but she managed to get out and then was unable to get back in. I left for work at 7am and got home and checked on them around 1pm so that's the max amount of hours she could have been off her eggs. I have no idea how long she was actually off them for. We've since moved her and her eggs to a different place but I just want to know if I have any hope at all of anything hatching from them.

 

[Kiki]

What is your weather like?

I'd say don't worry! You will know for sure if a few days when you candle..right?

 

[groundpecker]

i would continue to allow her to brood the eggs. If nothing hatches around day 23, i would remove the eggs.
I would say, there is hope.

 

[bobbi-j]

Oh yeah, I've had hens get off the eggs for an undetermined amount of time. I'd let her set. Maybe candle them at 10 days of incubation and see if there is any development.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Young eggs...but I've had hens off for longer.

Candle at five days...it should be quite visible if there's embryos moving around.

 

[Mountainbeauty]

How cold was it during that time?

 

[girtengirl]

I have had the exact same thing happen with one of my hens. My hen hatched all of hers. Just let her set they should be fine.

 

[Mountainbeauty]

did the eggs feel cold to the touch?

 

[Violetsrblu]

This has occurred twice to me before I started isolating my broodies on eggs. The silly Silkies would get confused and sit in the wrong nest box after they did their daily poop, eat and drink. Both times the outside temps were in the mid 40s and the eggs were cold to the touch. To my surprise and delight, ended up with 100% hatch both times.

 

[hereorthere]

This has occurred twice to me before I started isolating my broodies on eggs. The silly Silkies would get confused and sit in the wrong nest box after they did their daily poop, eat and drink. Both times the outside temps were in the mid 40s and the eggs were cold to the touch. To my surprise and delight, ended up with 100% hatch both times.

Ditto - same w/ my broodies from last year. I had estimated my hens being off for at least 7-8hrs. Hatch rate was pretty good - if memory serves me well, only 1 or 2 eggs did not hatch, while the other 7-8 did.... I think what was helpful was that we hadn't hit lockdown yet.