How long till I remove eggs?

[Whitney9988]

I normally collect my silkies eggs but for the last few days I've decided not to. I'm hoping she'll go broody. She lays on the nest until I let her out of her cage. I was wondering how long I can keep the eggs in there before they start smelling bad and if I leave the eggs in there could it encourage her to go broody?

 

[BirdBoy88]

how many eggs are already in the nest?

when i do the same to my hens they will go broody once the 8th or 9th egg is layed.. but it's up to the hen really if she wants to incubate

 

[Whitney9988]

She has 3 eggs under her now... She went broody about 2 months ago but the chick died halfway through the incubation period.