How long can hen be off eggs and they survive?

[stormgirl82]

My son removed the eggs from our broody hen and brought them inside. They were inside on our table for about 5-6 hours. She's been sitting on them for about 2-3 weeks... Is it possible for them to be okay? I had him put them back as soon as we noticed the mistake.. Its our first broody hen and he didn't realize we were letting her sit on them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

How warm is inside your house?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The older the embryo, the longer they can go dormant, but that depends on how cold they get tpo

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This Brinsea article should give you guidance.
What Happens if the Power Goes Off? (brinsea.com)
What was the temperature where the eggs were between times being in the nest under the hen?

 

[stormgirl82]

How warm is inside your house?

Around 70 degrees give or take

 

[ChickenCanoe]

At that age they were generating some of their own heat with metabolism so at 70 the internal temp may not have killed them all. I'd say they have a 50:50 chance.

 

[stormgirl82]

We will just leave it and see what happens then. We weren’t planning for chicks this time of year but if they hatch we have a plan and it’d be an awesome experience. I hope they survive. Thank you for all of the advice

 

[Willawong Hill]

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[stormgirl82]

Good luck and keep us updated!

I will for sure, thanks!

 

[stormgirl82]

Update: We decided to candle the eggs tonight and see how they were doing. Out of 11 eggs, 2 were infertile, 2 had stopped and 7 are great! It looks like 4 of them are very close to hatching and the other 3 are probably 6 or so days along.