Questions about using Broody to hatch

[bobbieschicks]

I have a few broody pullet questions -

What would be the estimated hatch date? Is it still 21 days?
Do I count it from the date she acted broody or actually stopped laying eggs?
She acted broody for about 7 days and finally stopped leaving her nest & stopped laying eggs 3 days ago. Is she due on Feb 19th or 23rd?

When is the best date and at what time of day should I be candling her eggs?
Or do I just let her determine if they are viable?
Will she stop sitting on them if they aren't developing?

Thanks so much! This is my 1st time with a broody - of course you can tell that right

 

[sonew123]

Ok its 21 days for hatching chicken eggs whether under broody or in bator. You can try to start counting from the day shenfinallynsettled on her eggs for good...all though from the sound of it...you may not know the exact date?
you should candle by day 7 ish and pull all clears...trust me when I say..you do NOT want a bad egg exploiding on her..the eggs or worse..YOU..bleah...i candle at night when its super dark..makes it more clear to me as to what is happening in the eggs.
i candle day 7 ish and day 17 then leave her alone and let mother nature takes its course...is she in a cold coop or ina warm area? That makes a difference too....if out in cold..hatch might be delayed...mynbroody sat on eggs for 28 days and hatched nothing...just too cold for her to keep them all warm

 

[bobbieschicks]

Ok its 21 days for hatching chicken eggs whether under broody or in bator. You can try to start counting from the day shenfinallynsettled on her eggs for good...all though from the sound of it...you may not know the exact date?
you should candle by day 7 ish and pull all clears...trust me when I say..you do NOT want a bad egg exploiding on her..the eggs or worse..YOU..bleah...i candle at night when its super dark..makes it more clear to me as to what is happening in the eggs.
i candle day 7 ish and day 17 then leave her alone and let mother nature takes its course...is she in a cold coop or ina warm area? That makes a difference too....if out in cold..hatch might be delayed...mynbroody sat on eggs for 28 days and hatched nothing...just too cold for her to keep them all warm

Thanks! She is inside an unheated coop. The temps are really weird this year - dropping into the 30Fs and 40Fs at night outside. The coop does stay slightly warmer then the outdoors. Those eggs feel pretty hot to the touch and she is squished down really good on top of them. She hasn't moved much since she started sitting. I think the most movement she's done is because I keep moving her off the eggs to get water & food. I think she settled 4 days ago when she laid her last egg and wouldn't get off the nest. She had been acting broody during daylight hours for almost a week prior - but wasn't staying on the nest overnight. So I will wait and candle tomorrow evening - that will be close to a week. The white eggs should be really easy to tell - the green eggs a little harder to track development- but if they aren't clear I'll leave them.

 

[sonew123]

Thanks! She is inside an unheated coop. The temps are really weird this year - dropping into the 30Fs and 40Fs at night outside. The coop does stay slightly warmer then the outdoors. Those eggs feel pretty hot to the touch and she is squished down really good on top of them. She hasn't moved much since she started sitting. I think the most movement she's done is because I keep moving her off the eggs to get water & food. I think she settled 4 days ago when she laid her last egg and wouldn't get off the nest. She had been acting broody during daylight hours for almost a week prior - but wasn't staying on the nest overnight. So I will wait and candle tomorrow evening - that will be close to a week. The white eggs should be really easy to tell - the green eggs a little harder to track development- but if they aren't clear I'll leave them.

If she settled 4 days ago then I would wait to candle for another 3-4 days...VA is warm compared to my state so they should be fine even at night. Make it alot easier on her and put water and food right next to her....

 

[cwalsh2]

Quit worrying. most broody hens are very good at hatching eggs - even well below freezing temps out. They usually inspect their eggs and smell for a bad one. If they push one out of the nest, leave it out. It is a bad egg. She knows. Leave her alone to do her job and you will have chicks.