How long do I wait on my broody hen?

[roxanne]

Our sweet black maran has been setting on a clutch of 16 eggs since June 24. Today would be day 22 and everything I read says 19-23 days. What now? If there are still no peeps by the weekend,!what should I do I am heart broken for her - should they all be duds and she has spent all this time for nothing.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Candle the eggs.. if none are alive, get some day olds and slip them under her at night.

 

[roxanne]

That means she will go another 19-23 days? That just seems so cruel

 

[MommyGirl]

That means she will go another 19-23 days? That just seems so cruel

No they said get some baby chicks and slip under her

 

[MommyGirl]

No they said get some baby chicks and slip under her

If her eggs are no good

 

[roxanne]

I really don’t want to have hatchery chicks in my flock. All of my chickens are from naturally hatched flocks.

 

[MommyGirl]

I would candle her eggs and see if they are still alive

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I really don’t want to have hatchery chicks in my flock. All of my chickens are from naturally hatched flocks.

Than either buy from someone selling newly hatched chick's from their flock, sell the hatchery chick's once weaned or break her brooding

 

[Ridgerunner]

June 24 was a Monday. The 21 days were up Monday, July 15th. She is three days overdue.

I really don’t want to have hatchery chicks in my flock. All of my chickens are from naturally hatched flocks.

I agree it is too late to start new eggs. If you want you can candle them but it is time to follow JacinLarkwell's advice.

It is probably a good idea to open the unhatched eggs and see if you can tell at what stage they quit if they started developing at all. That might help you determine what went wrong. If it was something that happened before incubation started then they typically don't develop at all or they quit within the first week of incubation. If it was something to do with the incubation then they typically stop in the last week. Often it is a combination of the two. And there can be exceptions.

I'll include a link that might help you determine what could have gone wrong. It is a lot. Several of these things are more for incubator hatches than broody hatches but many do apply.

Trouble Shooting Failures with Egg Incubation | Mississippi State University Extension Service (msstate.edu)

Sorry for your results, that is rough to handle. But treat it as a learning opportunity so maybe you can be more successful the next time.

 

[roxanne]

Our broody hen has three babies! The rest of her eggs looked almost like boiled eggs . The weather has been so HOT . I have several observations and some questions:
Observations:
- The hen did have a massive poop the day after she got out of the nesting box (I read this is normal)
- The hen is talking to her babies and she has been showing them how to drink and eat
- the discarded eggs were GROSS . Some looked like they were hard boiled. They were obviously rotten and the flies has laid eggs and there were a lot of maggots in the nesting box. Nature is so gross sometimes

Questions:
- Is it normal for the hen to have lost feathers on her underside?
- Should I check her to make sure she doesn't have any open sores or maggots on her?
- The coop she and her babies are currently in is off the ground. When is it possible to remove her from it and allow her to be among the other chickens? This coop would not be easily accessible for her chicks, so I worry about where the hen and her babies