Shipped eggs for Broody hen

[Sylvia0223]

This is the first time I have a broody hen and I received hatching eggs in the mail, they arrived well packed and I checked for any cracks … there were none. All looked great, but I didn’t know to let them sit for a day upside down before giving them to a broody hen, I gave her the eggs right away and she took them. It’s been 4 days that she has been sitting on them. Will some hatch ??? Or did I made a mistake by not letting them sit and nothing will hatch?

 

[AGeese]

You read my mind with this post, but you're a bit ahead of me so I'm getting popcorn ready.

 

[Sylvia0223]

You read my mind with this post, but you're a bit ahead of me so I'm getting popcorn ready.

I hope I didn’t messed up on this

 

[NatJ]

Will some hatch ??? Or did I made a mistake by not letting them sit and nothing will hatch?

Shipped eggs are always a gamble. You might have a good hatch rate or a poor hatch rate.

But whether you let them sit or not should only make a small difference, not a big difference. If you have a really horrible hatch rate, do not blame your own actions. Blame the Post Office instead, because it will probably be their fault.

You could try candling them today or tomorrow and see if they are developing. If they are developing, that's great! If they do not seem to be developing, give them a few more days and check again.

 

[Sylvia0223]

Shipped eggs are always a gamble. You might have a good hatch rate or a poor hatch rate.

But whether you let them sit or not should only make a small difference, not a big difference. If you have a really horrible hatch rate, do not blame your own actions. Blame the Post Office instead, because it will probably be their fault.

You could try candling them today or tomorrow and see if they are developing. If they are developing, that's great! If they do not seem to be developing, give them a few more days and check again.

Thank you so much for your answer

 

[junior67]

following along. I am getting shipped eggs on Mon to put under a broody and some in an incubator. I haven't had luck with me own eggs being fertilized so really hope some of these work!

 

[chickfused]

I just gave my broody girls 18 shipped eggs. Some of the eggs were obviously old, infertile, and shipped by an unscrupulous seller. I have 9 eggs left at day 15 under my girls and they look good. I killed 2 by accident early on, because for whatever reason, these didn't develop obviously like veiny eggs do in an incubator. Lots more fine veins vs. a few big ones.

In the future, I will just leave shipped eggs under broodies for 14 days. At that point, the embryo is opaque enough that's it's blatantly obvious there's a viable baby in there.

 

[chickfused]

Right on time, we have pips! This will be interesting

 

[chickfused]

They hatched out 7 babies, two of the eggs had died between day 14 and hatch day. 2 English Orps, 5 American Bresse. They now spend a lot of time fighting over "Who's babies are these anyway??" And trying to fit 7 babies and two huge hens in one nest.