My hen has been brooding 2 weeks. Is it too late to put fertilized eggs under her?

[sarahcee]

Our best mama hen (a Lavender Maran) started brooding 2 weeks ago. I immediately ordered some fertilized eggs but the package got delayed. It's supposed to arrive in the next 2 days but I'm wondering if my broody will hang in there for another 3 weeks to allow them to hatch?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Welcome to BYC, so glad you've joined us.

You can certainly place eggs under her at this point and she *should* hang in there and see the hatch through -- that said, there is never any guarantee with a broody and some will throw in the towel sooner than others....if that were to happen do you have an incubator that you could move the eggs to to finish them?
The other concern I would have is the eggs themselves - you say the package was delayed, depending on when the eggs were laid in relation to them being shipped, this added time in shipping may be pushing them beyond the optimum viability age for fertilized eggs, and the extra time in shipping also means more time that they may be being exposed to rough handling that takes a toll on the viability of eggs.

 

[sarahcee]

Thank you! That gives me hope. The sender actually put together a new batch of eggs for me and is sending them overnight so they should be good to go. This hen was a GREAT mother previously — very feisty and attentive — so I was really hoping to put her to use again. Thanks for the quick response, I really appreciate it.