Hi All, I have a bit of a situation I am grappling with and am Interested in the thoughts of those with more experience.
I have placed five Barnevelder eggs under a broody hen. It is now day 7.
I have only seen the hen get off the nest once a day, and it seems one of the other hens jumps into her nest every day to pop out an egg - it's annoying because I have to clear the extra egg, but so be it. This morning the broody had gone back to the wrong box. I am guessing either the other hen was sitting on the fertile eggs, or she just got confused as the kids hadn't collected eggs for a few days. The eggs were pretty cold to touch, so I am guessing she'd been off for 1 - 2 hours based on when I have observed her off on other days. I am fairly sure this is the only time it has occurred.
Question 1: Is there any hope the eggs are still ok? I was planning to candle them tonight anyway, but if the damage was only done this morning I am guessing I wont known.
To add complexity, we are going away from day 11 to day 19. I am now concerned while we are away she'll mess it up again but I won't be there to correct things. I have neighbors who can clear the other eggs and keep an eye on her, but it's a stretch to ask them to keep tabs on things properly. As such, I was thinking of popping the eggs into an incubator (I have a Brinsea Mini II advance) while I was away, and then moving them back under the hen when we get back on day 19. That way she can sit on whatever she wants and wherever she wants without concern. I realize this is into lockdown territory, but might be a lesser risk to leaving things unmonitored.
Question 2: What are peoples thoughts / experiences moving eggs just prior to hatching like this? Probability of sucess?
As an aside, I do realise that:
1. I didn't plan this every well.
2. I should have isolated the broody hen - but I have tried this before with no luck, she just went mental last time.
Many thanks
I have placed five Barnevelder eggs under a broody hen. It is now day 7.
I have only seen the hen get off the nest once a day, and it seems one of the other hens jumps into her nest every day to pop out an egg - it's annoying because I have to clear the extra egg, but so be it. This morning the broody had gone back to the wrong box. I am guessing either the other hen was sitting on the fertile eggs, or she just got confused as the kids hadn't collected eggs for a few days. The eggs were pretty cold to touch, so I am guessing she'd been off for 1 - 2 hours based on when I have observed her off on other days. I am fairly sure this is the only time it has occurred.
Question 1: Is there any hope the eggs are still ok? I was planning to candle them tonight anyway, but if the damage was only done this morning I am guessing I wont known.
To add complexity, we are going away from day 11 to day 19. I am now concerned while we are away she'll mess it up again but I won't be there to correct things. I have neighbors who can clear the other eggs and keep an eye on her, but it's a stretch to ask them to keep tabs on things properly. As such, I was thinking of popping the eggs into an incubator (I have a Brinsea Mini II advance) while I was away, and then moving them back under the hen when we get back on day 19. That way she can sit on whatever she wants and wherever she wants without concern. I realize this is into lockdown territory, but might be a lesser risk to leaving things unmonitored.
Question 2: What are peoples thoughts / experiences moving eggs just prior to hatching like this? Probability of sucess?
As an aside, I do realise that:
1. I didn't plan this every well.
2. I should have isolated the broody hen - but I have tried this before with no luck, she just went mental last time.
Many thanks
