how long can eggs stay in nest before she sits

[old biddy]

I have three eggs laid by my peahen. The oldest egg is 8 days old. She laid it on June 24th, another on 26th and the last one on the 28th. She has not laid any since. It has been four days since the last egg was laid. If she starts laying again in a few days, my question is: are the first three eggs still viable, specifically the first one?
Note: this is her second clutch. She only laid two eggs for the first clutch the first week of June - then stopped laying so I gave the eggs to a chicken hen to hatch. Any suggestions?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I doubt the first 3 are still viable. Try not to let them sit on eggs more than 10-14 days old. Those would be a waste of her time. Less than a week would be better.
http://www.hopkinslivestock.com/Peafowl Article 1.htm

 

[mustangkid]

How old is this hen? A young hen will have smaller clutches of eggs (2-4) than older hens and also be less inclined to go broody. Some of my hens even older have never gone broody.

 

[old biddy]

How old is this hen? A young hen will have smaller clutches of eggs (2-4) than older hens and also be less inclined to go broody. Some of my hens even older have never gone broody.

Anastasia is about 6 years old. This is her fourth year laying eggs. The first year she laid eggs she did not go broody at all. The second year she laid almost 19 eggs throughout the season - I gave some to chicken hens that were broody and they hatched out 5 peachicks - Anastasia hatched 3 out of 4 eggs in the clutch. Last year she went broody but the eggs she sat on were not viable, though two other eggs were given to a chicken hen who sat on them and hatched out one. This year so far she laid 2 in early June ( which I gave to a chicken hen ) and then 3 starting June 24th which are still in her nest.

 

[mustangkid]

I have had hens take a year or two off from going broody then start up again. A mature hen should lay 6-8 eggs in a clutch, then take a couple weeks off, then start laying again if you take the eggs or they don't go broody. If see hasn't produced another egg I would pull them if you want a chance at more chicks. As far as only laying 2 or 3 eggs in a clutch that's usually a 2 year old or an older hen. At 6 your hen should be in her prime years.