INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[Jessimom]

I'm off to bed. Talk to you lovely folks tomorrow

Good night!! Thanks for your advice!!!

 

[kwhites634]

Is it weird that the two hens swap nests? One has 6 eggs on day 9 (I THINK) and the other has 2 that are on day 5. It seems like the both like the full nest, they both get up at the same time and whoever is fastest gets to sit on the bigger stack of eggs. Do chickens STAY broody for just enough time for a batch to hatch? Or do they stay as long as there are eggs under them?

Thanks!!!!!

The 1st & only hen I've ever had to go broody started in June last year. We were going to be in WI for 2 weeks in July, so I kept taking her eggs (with a glove...she took offense at being disturbed). I left eggs under her starting Aug. 1st, but was too dumb to mark them, so couldn't tell what was what as far as age, so I finally tossed them all & replaced them with 6 fresh ones. She quit brooding the same day. Until the day she quit, she was virtually glued to the nest...well over 2 months.

 

[flocktastic]

  Smart husband

Yes, I've learned to listen a bit more lol - I'm typically the more impatient one - he's very laid back and go with the flow..."let nature take its course" - but he was raised on a farm from day 1 - I only spent my summers at my uncles (until now of course) but definitely something to be said for the seasoned livestock and poultry experts...

 

[kwhites634]

That's a lot better than most. A lot of people candle just like they're incubating them... day 7, day 14, day 18, and sometimes a few days in between!

Compare to you, everyone is still yout.....

You knew it was coming, didn't you???

I'd have thought you were off your feed if it hadn't

 

[chicken hawk 33]

I,so can't wait till the weekend

 

[Ur-ur-ur-urrr]

Is it weird that the two hens swap nests? One has 6 eggs on day 9 (I THINK) and the other has 2 that are on day 5. It seems like the both like the full nest, they both get up at the same time and whoever is fastest gets to sit on the bigger stack of eggs. Do chickens STAY broody for just enough time for a batch to hatch? Or do they stay as long as there are eggs under them?

Thanks!!!!!

If any eggs don't hatch within 2-3 days of the first, the hen(s) will abandon them as she knows she needs to tend to those that are already out by showing them where the food and water is...

Its not weird that they're swapping, but it may cause a problem at hatch time. When the earlier batch starts hatching, they might both get up to take care of the chicks and abandon the later eggs. I always try to give broodies sharing a nest eggs at the same time, so they share a hatch date. If you can separate them and figure out which eggs are which, it might be a good idea to catch it early (or maybe stick a piece of cardboard between them so they can't steal each others eggs?).

Good luck!

Agreed. There's a good chance of both hens abandoning the unhatched eggs...

 

[Jessimom]

The 1st & only hen I've ever had to go broody started in June last year. We were going to be in WI for 2 weeks in July, so I kept taking her eggs (with a glove...she took offense at being disturbed). I left eggs under her starting Aug. 1st, but was too dumb to mark them, so couldn't tell what was what as far as age, so I finally tossed them all & replaced them with 6 fresh ones. She quit brooding the same day. Until the day she quit, she was virtually glued to the nest...well over 2 months.

Prior to this, I had an EE go broody. We took all eggs out from under her (since none could be fertile - no rooster). After 3 weeks, I bought some fertile eggs to put under her. She kept accidentally kicking them all out of the next. We checked on her a LOT, so we would just put them back under her. She ended hatching zero! About day 20, she abandoned the nest entirely. We had no incubator at the time, so there was no saving them. There were full grown, viable babies in there. It was sad - I had my first incubator less than a week later....

 

[kwhites634]

I'm off to bed. Talk to you lovely folks tomorrow

 

[daxigait]

Daxi you need to get these to your state veternarian to be autopsied. If they are some distance you can freeze them and put them in ziplock bags and send them with the gel ice packs and mail them. Double bag them. Find out what this is. They arrived sick from the hatchery. It could be an outbreak. That needs to be ruled out.

I got rid of bodies today. I will keep the next one.

 

[Chickymomma722]

Help! First time incubating today is day 7 but exactly 24 hours after set lost power for 10 hours :/ there is veins visible just not clear in the picture any help appreciated