How long should I let a chicken sit on her eggs?

[4Henny]

In my experience this has proven to be false every time. Every time I've candled an egg that was out of a nest, it's been viable. They aren't even smart enough to get back on the *correct* nest when leaving to defecate and eat/drink. *Just sharing my two cents*

My birds are free range on pasture and the only go to the roost to lay or at night. I find this makes chickens much "smarter". If there is such a thing.

 

[4Henny]

This is why most people candle during the first 20 days or so, so that you know when you get to this point what to expect. Obviously not everyone has candling tools, so no issue there. You really don't have a firm date when she started sitting and 14 eggs is an incredible amount for one hen to handle (which is why she probably threw some out). She knows which one is viable (that's nature!) or she knew she couldn't handle that many. SO *if* any were viable, it is likely the 7 she has left. I would absolutely give it until the weekend given your loose timeframe. Comes this weekend if you don't hear any peeps or see any pips... then likely you have unviable eggs. Good luck!

I didn't really need any more chicks but this hen was impossible to break on the broodiness. So, I let her set a few eggs and the others decided to use her to hatch their eggs too! Sneaky biddies. I should have kept a closer eye on them but they are in pasture all day and just go back in to lay. The brooding hen has been an incredibly diligent and I would hate for her to get nothing for her effort. I will candle tonight and hope at least a few are good. Thanks.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I didn't really need any more chicks but this hen was impossible to break on the broodiness. So, I let her set a few eggs and the others decided to use her to hatch their eggs too! Sneaky biddies. I should have kept a closer eye on them but they are in pasture all day and just go back in to lay. The brooding hen has been an incredibly diligent and I would hate for her to get nothing for her effort. I will candle tonight and hope at least a few are good. Thanks.

I've been in your shoes. I hope you get some new babies and a happy mama! She sounds like she will be a good one.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I will candle tonight and see what is what in there. Regardless, I will probably give her through the weekend because she has been so devoted to her cause. I would hate to see her have a complete bust. Will a hen finally give up if no eggs hatch?

Any updates? Did you get to candle them? Or do the "tapping" test to the bottom of the eggs? Or the smell test?
If she is really devoted to sitting she most likely won't give up until she hatches them out. My advice if these eggs are not fertile would be to either get fertilized eggs and switch out the ones she is sitting on with the fertile ones or get a few day old chicks and see if she accepts them as her own, most of the time you wait until she gets off the nest before doing this, otherwise the hen sometimes won't be tricked and she'll peck the chicks to death.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I didn't really need any more chicks but this hen was impossible to break on the broodiness. So, I let her set a few eggs and the others decided to use her to hatch their eggs too! Sneaky biddies. I should have kept a closer eye on them but they are in pasture all day and just go back in to lay. The brooding hen has been an incredibly diligent and I would hate for her to get nothing for her effort. I will candle tonight and hope at least a few are good. Thanks.

If you think/know the other hens have been laying in her box you may have some hatching soon, just may be on different dates which can throw everything off. I definitely would candle, tap, and smell if you haven't already.

 

[Anime2lover]

Hello! I have never asked a question before here on this forum but I have always gotten good information from other posts. I have a problem. A good hen went broody with 4 initial eggs on July 10. She is very skittish so I did not disturb her. One week later, when she went out drinking, I noticed that she had 14 eggs. It is very hot here in Texas so the eggs could practically hatch on their own. (just kidding). Since that time, 3 eggs broke in the nest and I cleaned this mess up while she was out. She pushed 4 eggs out of the nest last week. Oh my gosh, this sounds like a math problem! I digress. My problem lies in the amount of time I should give her to hatch these remaining 7 eggs. My original pip date was July 31. We are 4 days past that. What is a reasonable time frame here? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If they were layer after she started sitting, they may hatch a few days later then the rest. That's what I'm currently facing with my hen. She sat on a clutch of five, one got mixed in by accident when my younger twin brothers accidentally took her eggs (thankfully I noticed before it was to late and knew which ones were her eggs for the most part) and I mistakenly put a egg that was a newer by a week. She's still sitting on it. But food and water is close enough for her to teach her hatched babies and still sit on the later hatching egg. Which I know is still viable.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

I didn't really need any more chicks but this hen was impossible to break on the broodiness. So, I let her set a few eggs and the others decided to use her to hatch their eggs too! Sneaky biddies. I should have kept a closer eye on them but they are in pasture all day and just go back in to lay. The brooding hen has been an incredibly diligent and I would hate for her to get nothing for her effort. I will candle tonight and hope at least a few are good. Thanks.

Any luck yet with the eggs hatching?
Hope all is well!

 

[aart]

I will candle tonight and hope at least a few are good.

Sooo....what happened @4Henny ?