How long to leave unhatched egg with hen?

[maddogdodge]

This has probably been asked a million times, but when I searched for it, I couldn't find a distinct answer...

I've got a hen who was sitting on 8 eggs. 7 of them hatched on day 20, Its now the end of day 22 and the last egg has not shown any signs of hatching...

Mum hen is still spending most of her time on the nest with the chicks and one egg...

How long should I wait before I give up on my last egg?

Thanks for any advice

 

[Orca5094]

I would candle the egg and see what's going on inside. It could have died, or could be preparing to hatch. So you need to know which. The hen really needs to be able to get on with taking care of the hatched chicks and not be held back by a potentially bad egg.

 

[maddogdodge]

I did candle the egg yesterday. From what I could see it looked okay... but I'm a complete novice at this stuff...

It was mostly black with a large air cell... thats pretty much all I could see....

Its definitely got something in it.... whether that something is alive, I honestly don't know....

 

[Just sayin]

I'm in the same boat with ours, trying to candle eggs. I can sometimes see something I'm just not sure what. Just sympathizing.

 

[Orca5094]

Can you see it moving at all inside when you candle, pushing on the air cell membrane? And have you smelled it just to be sure it hasn't died and is going bad? Of course it could just be a late one, but if the others have been hatched for two days already it's quickly running out of time. Momma should be leaving the nest with the others very soon (if she hasn't already). Has she taken the other chicks out to eat or anything yet? They are ok not eating for up to 3 days after hatching, but no more than that. You are approaching that deadline fast, so just concerned for the other hatchlings.

 

[khansid]

According to my experience
if she is a gud brooder and mother
wether the egg gonna hatch or not

if the egg gonna hatch she may be sitting
or else she may get up frm de nest and take care of those hatched chicks
anddd I hv incubated 12 eggs under my hen
today is day 19
fkngers crossed

 

[Aphrael]

I did candle the egg yesterday. From what I could see it looked okay... but I'm a complete novice at this stuff...

It was mostly black with a large air cell... thats pretty much all I could see....

Its definitely got something in it.... whether that something is alive, I honestly don't know....

You could try doing a water candle on it. You float the egg gently into warm water (about 99-100 degrees F) give it a few seconds for the egg and the water to settle. If the chick is alive it will wiggle and rock in the water. This movement may not be really big, so watch closely. Here is a wonderful video of water candling.

 

[cafrhe]

Great information and video. What do you do then with the egg if it moves when candled but unhatched at day 22? I also have a hen who has hatched 2 chicks on day 20. 3rd egg which was candled and had developed (looked like the other 2 on day 15) but not hatched yet. We can candle tomorrow if it doesnt hatch tonight, but not sure what to do next.

Thanks!

 

[Aphrael]

It could have been snuck into the nest by another hen after your hen started setting and so is not as far along as the others. Or it could just be a late hatcher. Either way, if it doesn't hatch by tomorrow, you're going to need to do something with it, because momma needs to leave the nest to take care of her hatched babies. If you have an incubator, you can put it in there and wait for it to hatch. Some people have even rigged up a makeshift incubator with a desk lamp and a box to finish eggs that didn't get finished under the hen.

 

[maddogdodge]

Thank you all for your thoughts, I really appreciate it

Great video! I'll give water candling a go today... I'll let you guys know what happens!