My broody hen's eggs seem rotten

[iroeldjoeldj]

Darn...this is the third year she had gone broody and tried to hatch chicks...but 3 just exploded under her, and the rest should have hatched last week. Because of her efforts, I now know what a gross smell an exploding rotten egg can be.

I've also got my first batch of eggs in a Hova Bator incubator. They will be on lockdown next week, and hopefully I will have better luck that she has had. I'm hoping if I give her some chicks from that batch, that she will adopt them and forget about her rotten eggs.

Since the other eggs are now covered in gross stuff from the exploding eggs, I'm wondering if I should wash them off...or just leave them. I'm going to candle them again once I get my babies, and throw out any that don't look viable.

 

[chuckachucka]

I would candle any remaining eggs immediately. If you see life inside wash them and retun t to broody. If they are clears or dead throw them out now. Don't wait for them to explode! Your broody will continue to sit until your incubator eggs hatch. You could give her some fake eggs or golf balls or even fresh store bought eggs to sit on in the mean time if you are worried she might stop sitting, but I would not leave the existing eggs any longer unless you are sure they are still viable.

 

[BlueBaby]

I agree with @chuckachucka

 

[BYC910]

Darn...this is the third year she had gone broody and tried to hatch chicks...but 3 just exploded under her, and the rest should have hatched last week. Because of her efforts, I now know what a gross smell an exploding rotten egg can be.

I've also got my first batch of eggs in a Hova Bator incubator. They will be on lockdown next week, and hopefully I will have better luck that she has had. I'm hoping if I give her some chicks from that batch, that she will adopt them and forget about her rotten eggs.

Since the other eggs are now covered in gross stuff from the exploding eggs, I'm wondering if I should wash them off...or just leave them. I'm going to candle them again once I get my babies, and throw out any that don't look viable.

chuckachucka is so right . Any eggs that have exploded have contaminated the others . That means they may be dead already . Check them clean them NOW!!!!!!!!! If you replace them with other eggs . Warm the egg or get them fresh from the chicken .As in just laid and put under her . If she has had eggs explode under her ,then with out cleaning her and the nest your placing eggs in a hostile environment.

 

[iroeldjoeldj]

Thank you for the suggestions. Heading out to do it now!

 

[iroeldjoeldj]

ughhh...well...I candled all of them, and no signs of life. two other eggs had exploded under her as of this morning. So I made the decision to get rid of all of them. I didn't want to do it, but I cracked each one open in case I was wrong. Most were just filled with stinky liquidy substances...but 3 had the remnants of chicks in various stages of development...none were alive.

I've blocked off access to the nesting box she was in, until I can get in there and disinfect it. I'm thinking clorox bleach...then keeping it off limits for at least a week.

I do have several eggs incubating. I'm wondering if I should put 5 in a different nesting box and see if she would sit on them to hatch them. Or should I just wait until hopefully they hatch, and see if she adopts the chicks. I'll think about this one...the eggs go on lockdown Sunday night. It is 100 degrees here, so if she doesn't sit on them right away, they will still be pretty warm.

Has anyone put incubated eggs under a broody hen and had it work out?

 

[chuckachucka]

Sorry about the eggs. I wonder why some of them didn't make it though (the smelly liquid and exploding ones were proably never fertilised or never started developing). It's quite unusual for eggs under a broody to die mid development like that. Where did you get the eggs? Are you certain your broody is sitting all day and no taking too many breaks off the nest or something?

I have transferred partilly incubated eggs to a broody before wth no problem but it was to the same nest spot. Is it possible for you to clean the nest with a milder chemical and then move the broody back straightaway? That way she is more likely to keep sitting. Then you can decide whether to finish the eggs in the incubator or give them to her to hatch. If you move her to a new nest there is a chance her broodiness will break.

 

[iroeldjoeldj]

I'm pretty sure I know what was happening. The other hens would force her over in the nesting box, and lay new eggs right next to her. Those eggs would then become part of the ones she was trying to hatch. Sometimes, 2 or 3 would want to get in that same nesting box, and force her out.

She did take breaks, as it is pretty hot here (100) so she did get off them mainly to drink water. But she's been sitting on them for about 30 days, which is why I decided to candle them last week, and threw out the ones that looked clear / or blood rings. However, I'm also new to candling eggs, so I put back any that looked darker inside, and perhaps like the pictures online of chicks developing. I guess I was wrong on them. I wonder if the exploding eggs killed the ones still developing? One of the eggs in her box that cracked and exploded today had a partially formed chick, but mainly gross liquid that ran out...the other eggs were stinky from the all the exploding eggs. I'm also questioning if my hens are too old. They are about 3 years old...and though they free range, and have oyster shell and high protein food, sometimes their shells are a bit weak, and an egg will break under the weight of them sitting on it.

In the past, I've had several hens successfully go broody and hatch chicks. Once I had 3 mothers at once.

Sorry...my response got very long. Instead of putting more eggs under her, I think I'll buy some chicks and try putting them under her. I've never had success with that, but I've read a few forums on tips / tricks to get the hen to accept them. Fingers crossed.

 

[iroeldjoeldj]

Ok, this is what I actually did. I cleaned all the nesting boxes today...especially the two that had exploding eggs in them. Since it is 100 degrees here, and hardly any humidity, they had already mostly absorbed into the pine shavings I have put in.

Once the nest was clean, I added 4 new eggs to it. My broody hen didn't want to go back in to sit on them, but I bribed her with two cherry tomatoes...and now I just checked, and she is still sitting happily on them. Phew.

On Monday night, I'll put 5 of the ready to hatch eggs under her...and cross my fingers that nothing explodes! I just ordered an Ovascope, so I can really look for any cracks / etc in the eggs before I select them. Wish me and my broody hen luck!

 

[Chickenmom1sttime]

ughhh...well...I candled all of them, and no signs of life. two other eggs had exploded under her as of this morning. So I made the decision to get rid of all of them. I didn't want to do it, but I cracked each one open in case I was wrong. Most were just filled with stinky liquidy substances...but 3 had the remnants of chicks in various stages of development...none were alive.

I've blocked off access to the nesting box she was in, until I can get in there and disinfect it. I'm thinking clorox bleach...then keeping it off limits for at least a week.

I do have several eggs incubating. I'm wondering if I should put 5 in a different nesting box and see if she would sit on them to hatch them. Or should I just wait until hopefully they hatch, and see if she adopts the chicks. I'll think about this one...the eggs go on lockdown Sunday night. It is 100 degrees here, so if she doesn't sit on them right away, they will still be pretty warm.

Has anyone put incubated eggs under a broody hen and had it work out?

I am new at this and attempted to candle eggs and I couldn’t tell anything just dark on one end how do you Know if they are alive or viable