So, its almost spring in the next month and my hen so far has 8 eggs in the nest but i heard shell lay a good clutch up to 12 eggs before she decides to set, well i was wondering some of the eggs have poop on them and i was wondering even if she did go broody and decided to hatch out some chicks are the ones covered with poop bad or are they like any other egg?
I can't answer that for you, but I am sure someone will be along shortly to welcome you, that can answer it for you. But it is great to have you aboard and enjoy BYC!
Hello and Welcome To BYC! It isn't unusual for a hen to get her eggs a little dirty or have some poop on them, it doesn't seem to make any real difference in their hatching ... though If they are really filthy / covered in poop (especially if an egg has broken) I usually take them out just to keep the nest other eggs cleaner and not worry so much about contamination from bacteria etc. Has your hen ever gone broody? What breed is she? Just because a hen is laying a clutch doesn't mean she will necessarily go broody any time soon. You may want to mark the eggs by date so if she keeps laying you can take out the old ones ... or put some fake eggs in the nest and collect the real ones and store them until you have as many as you want her to set on (12?) and just replace the oldest eggs with the newest ones until she goes broody, then give her back the collected ones. The BYC Learning Center has some good articles on Broodys you might like. ie https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/broody-hens
Alright great to have you onboard As long as you have a healthy rooster and a healthy hen and the egg's are fertile then the egg's should be able to hatch if you leave them alone
Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you. A little dirt is rather normal and won't harm your chicks, but if they're really dirty, I'd remove them, as they could become rotten and contaminate other clean eggs.
