NEED HELP! Mom Not Sitting on Egg Enough Any More

[citychickinthecountry]

My hen hatched one egg last week and now she is spending more time off of the nest rather than on. I have a second egg that she has been sitting on. The egg is at about Day 16 and when candled last night, looks like there was movement (big black blob wiggled).

How long can a hen be off of an egg before I need to worry about it going bad/embryo dying? I just don't know if I should take over at this point because Mama seems to spend more time playing with her hatched chick rather than tending to the unhatched egg. It's not bad (no bad smell, etc.) and as I said, I saw movement last night.

Maybe I am just seeing her off the nest for the few times a day that she gets up...who knows...but before the first egg hatched, I had to actually make her get off the nest once a day to go poop.

I am going to candle again tonight to see if I can see anything, but after tonight's candling, I have to leave it alone to hopefully hatch.

Just wanting some advice "just in case".

 

[citychickinthecountry]

Now I really need advice...mom doesn't appear to be sitting on the egg during the day. Today is Day 18, so I took the egg out of the nest and gently placed it in rubbermaid bin in a makeshift nest, with a heat lamp. I guess this is the best I can do for now.

I am keeping an eye on the temperature in the bin to make sure I don't fry the egg (literally).

I candled the egg, but didn' t notice any movement. So, how do I know if an 18-day old egg is still viable if there is no visible movement? I am still hopeful, but who knows. This egg may be lost.

 

[chookhead]

put nit in an incubator the mother has abandoned the egg if it hatches it can join its brothers and sisters so yea keep it warm and humid

 

[NovaAman]

just a bit of advice, do not do staggered hatches under broodies.. Eggs get abandoned. A day or so different, ok, but 5 days different is bad..

 

[citychickinthecountry]

I know not to stagger egg hatches under a hen...but thank you for the advice.

My hen hijacked the egg after she set on her first egg, and when I candled it, the egg had veins. The first egg hatched a week ago and I was afraid that I'd have to play mother hen myself.

I will just see what happens. I don't have an incubator, so I just have a heat lamp near the egg with a thermometer to monitor the temperature.

I appreciate the advice all. I will hope for the best, but expect the worst.

 

[chookhead]

yea expect the worst if u can maintian humid warm conditions there is no reason why it shoudlnt hatch

 

[citychickinthecountry]

At this point, it is looking like the chick won't hatch. No visible movement, the chick does not seem to be growing (that I can tell). Today is Day 21, so I will give it until Day 23, then crack the egg myself.

Sigh.

 

[Hawkeye95]

At this point, it is looking like the chick won't hatch. No visible movement, the chick does not seem to be growing (that I can tell). Today is Day 21, so I will give it until Day 23, then crack the egg myself.

Sigh.

I know people have incubated eggs with lights before... however, they put a bowl of water in the box with a lid of some sort to keep the humidity in. Also, turn the egg 3X a day. At the end (last two days), you can actually spritz the egg with water since it's not under a broody or in a incubator. This is how my grandpa used to do it. It's not exactly ideal...