Straight out of the fridge and under Hen

[CalgaryFarmer]

One of my RIR hens had been playing broody for quite a while, but was never fully committed. She had been sitting on a bunch of fake eggs.

Then she became committed. I literally grabbed some eggs out of the fridge and put them under her and removed the fake eggs.

I candled the eggs and it seems 5 out of the 6 are viable.

One question I have is it was probably 3 days after she was fully committed that I did the switch. Is there a risk she may quit 3 days before they are to hatch?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Nope. Some will quit early, and some will sit on bad eggs for six weeks. They don't keep track of the days.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

Thank you.

How quickly do you have to get them into an incubator? It is reasonably warm during the day here. I am sure it depends on how old they are and the ambient temperature.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I collect them for 7-10 days before putting them in the incubator. I don't refrigerate them, just put them in a carton with one end propped up and switch which end is propped a few times a day.