How long can hatching eggs be left alone before dying?

[HeiHeisMom]

So I have a broody hen who has been sitting on some eggs for about a week and she got kicked off her nest by another hen and she got onto the wrong nest and stayed she had been away at the longest for four hours and today the temperature had gotten to a hundred. Are my eggs still hatch able or are they all dead?

 

[HeiHeisMom]

Happened to o me as well. I had three eggs I was pretty sure we're no longer viable so went ahead and cracked them.
One was early death, another not fertile, unfortunately I one was viable and at about day four( it had been laid two weeks ago and no hen was sitting for very long at all). With the 105+ temps and our high humidity here, I guess it was moving along on it's own.
So I'd say yes, there's still a good chance of viability.

 

[Top Rooster]

Well she got off the nest like she normally does in the morning and got back on the right nest so I thought all was fine and I didn’t check on her again till I had to put them up for the night today and she for some reason was on the wrong so again I don’t know how long she was off but it was plenty warm today. I don’t know how to tell if an egg is alive or not because all I see is an embryo and some veins but the chick never moves that I’ve seen.

 

[Splinky01]

Please if anyone can offer advice on hurt chick. I’ve been feeding it and looking after for 3 days now. It’s not really improved . I’ve been feeding it but have to support head as it can’t move on it’s own . I obviously can’t keep this up for much longer and chick obv sustained some bad injuries. It’s chirping and eating . I’m feeding it yoghurt and chick crumb ( started on sugar water) , a few moist meal worms and given it some vitamins. Do you think euthanasia is best ? Would you take it to vet for this? I blame my stupid self . Mother hen is now sharing chick rearing with 2 other hens. At least 8 are doing well .

 

[Top Rooster]

Well if the chick is eating and drinking that’s a good sign. I had a chick who couldn’t walk for more than a week or two and she happened to be the chick now hen that this thread is about. Her leg injury eventually healed she just needed time to heal. Give the chick some more time.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I forgot to mention the hen is actually a brown leghorn of all chickens who has been sitting diligently for two and a half months to three months now I tried to break her earlier but she just wouldn’t give up. She’s gone broody twice in one year hatching chicks both times one time in early spring the other in October. She’s the most broody chicken I have ever had beating out Orpingtons and other chickens that are known to be broody and she’s a leghorn for goodness sake.

Brown leghorns are more likely to go broody than Whites. BUT... that being said, I have a white leghorn raising babies a the moment. I gave her incubator babies because I've been having bad luck with rotten eggs in my broody nests this year and my Chocolate Orp cock isn't as fertile as I would like him to be.

Rare, mythical creature in my poultry pen (broody white leghorn).

Please if anyone can offer advice on hurt chick. I’ve been feeding it and looking after for 3 days now. It’s not really improved . I’ve been feeding it but have to support head as it can’t move on it’s own . I obviously can’t keep this up for much longer and chick obv sustained some bad injuries. It’s chirping and eating . I’m feeding it yoghurt and chick crumb ( started on sugar water) , a few moist meal worms and given it some vitamins. Do you think euthanasia is best ? Would you take it to vet for this? I blame my stupid self . Mother hen is now sharing chick rearing with 2 other hens. At least 8 are doing well .

Only you can say when euthanasia is necessary. I would lean towards, yes, it is. The chick is failing to thrive. It happens sometimes. I cull chicks by wrapping them snug in a paper towel so I can't see them, I feel for their neck and I use a pair of kitchen sheers to quickly snip through their neck. It is quick and not as error prone as gassing a chick.

 

[Splinky01]

Well if the chick is eating and drinking that’s a good sign. I had a chick who couldn’t walk for more than a week or two and she happened to be the chick now hen that this thread is about. Her leg injury eventually healed she just needed time to heal. Give the chick some more time.

Was chick able to eat unaided ? Could it lift its head ? This one lies either on its back or all twisted . It appears to have its head almost back to front. It’s very uncomfortable to see and quite possibly for the chick too. The problem I also have is we go away next week so if chuck isn’t better by Monday I have a problem. Thanks would appreciate a quick response as it’s booked in at vets in 2 hours time . It’s not something I want to do believe me so if there’s any hope ....

 

[Top Rooster]

Has it already gone to the vets? Sorry I hadn’t gotten sooner. My chick laid on her back too I just tried to prop her up and put her their to food and water. It took her time but eventually she got better but I don’t know if there is enough time before you leave. I would cull her if I were you.

 

[Top Rooster]

I just thought it was so odd that she would go broody I just wonder why her broodiness didn’t get cut out like it did in other chickens in her breed.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I just thought it was so odd that she would go broody I just wonder why her broodiness didn’t get cut out like it did in other chickens in her breed.

It is impossible to completely get rid of broodiness. I heard from someone who was raised on an egg farm, they had thousands of white production leghorns, but they routinely had a broody breaker with 50-100 broody hens. They were marked as non-breeders.