hens are broody, and eggs are roten !?!

[animalsRawesome]

I have some black jersey giant hens. Alot of them went broody a couple months ago, so I let them all keep their eggs, hoping they would hatch. However, none did and I had to throw all the eggs out because they were rotten and smelled REALLY bad.

I thought maybe it was because I kept them in the coop with my non-broody hens and the non-broody hens got in the boxes with the brood hens and laid new eggs, or broke the ones that the hens were trying to hatch. But yestersday I discovered that one hen snuck off and made a nest in the hay barn. I found her because her eggs are rotten and smell too!! Why won't these girls hatch their own eggs. I know the eggs are "good" because I hatched some in my incubator this spring. What does everybody think?

P.S. are Jersey Giants usually this broody? About 10 out of my 30 are broody, and these girls just won't give up either! THANKS!

 

[SarahFair]

Consider yourself lucky!
We cant get a broody hen around here for ANYTHING.

Maybe start marking the eggs with dates so you know exactly how old the eggs are?

 

[Silkiesandco]

Quote:
We cant get a non broody hen around here for ANYTHING

Get a silkie, mine ALL went broody! Well not the roos but the girlies

 

[Harlequin]

i had a black sex link that went broody for the first time and all of them ended up rotten. she went broody again a month later and we moved her to a separate pen and gave her some easter egger eggs and they hatched fine. maybe your hens just dont know what to do? :-/ maybe if u move them to a place where they cant wander around a lot then they will be more adamant about sitting on them. how old are your hens?

 

[animalsRawesome]

They are almost a year old. I could move them to a smaller area, but they always seem to be sitting on their eggs. IDK. Its worth a try though. Thanks.

 

[animalsRawesome]

I don't really feel lucky because theres no point in having a broody hen if the eggs go rotten/ are wasted. While she's setting she's costing me money because the eggs are being wasted and she is not producing a chick for me.

Why do you think that they aren't hatching. What could I try and do different?