- Jan 14, 2010
- 7
- 1
- 7
I finally have a rooster & we need more hens, so I am letting 2 brooders sit on eggs. One egg broke this week or leaked in there & I got it out, but it smells cause goop's on the other eggs & straw. If I wash the eggs, would mom reject them? Is it more dangerous to wash the eggs (temperature, egg coating, etc.) than to let the eggs hatch in a stinky nest (bacteria, etc.)? It's been 18-23 days of absolutely religious egg-sitting by the moms - one hen I've NEVER seen up & the other never up for more than about 4 minutes. But no chicks yet. At what point do you figure if they haven't hatched, must be dead inside & give up & toss them? (heartbreaking to these devoted moms I bet).