Infertile eggs under broody, Should I replace?

[Englishchick]

Hello,
I only have four chickens, and have had them 3 months so am very new to all this. One of them unexpectedly went broody so I bought her 6 fertile eggs from eBay ( seller had lots of positive feedback). I'm based in the UK and its been really hot here, the eggs took 2 days to arrive, I let them stand for 24 hours then put them under my broody.
She has been really dedicated sitting on the egg. I candled today at 8 days and all looked like there was nothing.
ITs my first ever candling so I was comparing to photos on the Internet. So I appreciate something may yet happen or I may be too new to know what I'm seeing.
But what do I do if nothing hatches? Do I get more eggs now, or leave it a bit longer, or if there is nothing by about 24 days do I then get more eggs or try to break her broodiness?
thanks so much for any advice you can give me.

 

[mmcraig70]

Hi, Englishchick! I am certainly no expert, but I ran across the same problem early on. I don't have any roosters so all of my eggs were infertile. Didn't matter to the hen! I looked around for fertile eggs, but didn't really find any viable options (no pun intended). So then I read about taking babies and placing them under the hen for her to foster. It has worked out splendidly! I would usually just go and buy two chicks at the feed store. The trick, though, is that you need to introduce them to mama when it is dark. Interestingly, if she sees them first, she's likely to try to kill them. However, if she hears them first and feels them under her belly (from which mine has pulled out all of her feathers.. )they are instantly bonded. She will coo to them and they will peep back and the deal is done! In fact, I am about to head to the feed store right now to do exactly what I've described. I like to get the chicks in the morning or afternoon, so I can make sure they've had adequate food and water with electrolytes. Hope this helps even just a little bit. Good luck!