Too many eggs for broody, how to choose

[rcstanley]

I got my shipped eggs today, yay! I had ordered extra since I had heard shipped eggs have a much lower hatch rate. The seller also sent extras, so now I have 15 bantam eggs and just one broody bantam Cochin. Is there a good way to choose which eggs to put under her? Any guesses as to how many eggs she could reasonably hatch?

Any good ideas of what to do with the extra eggs? I don't have an incubator, would it be worth trying to get one? (I just need to repeat to myself "eggs are not puppies").

 

[Teila]

Hey there rcstanley

I have faced the same predicament with each of my hatches. Having no roosters, I have purchased fertile eggs locally or had them posted. Needing to order by the dozen and only having bantams who can not cover 12 eggs, I have had extras.

Not that any of the eggs I have got have been dirty, I would avoid any dirty eggs and of course, check each one over for any signs of weakness or damage. After that [and the great advice posted by Kev below], I think it is just luck.

The most my little bantam Cochin has managed to cover is 9. With 3 of us in the house, I just got everyone to pick 3 each from the 12 and marked who’s choice they were to see who’s hatched. My track record on picking eggs is not good

Not having an incubator and not a large number of remaining eggs, with a touch of sadness, I simply disposed of the remainder but, if you were to still have ½ dozen remaining and you do not go down the incubator path, you could try advertising them. There may be someone with a broody who needs ½ dozen eggs.

My experience with shipped eggs has varied and I believe a lot depends on the packaging and sender etc.

I picked up 6 eggs locally, one turned out to be slightly cracked so did not take the chance and we had 5 from 5 on that hatch.

With posted eggs I have got 5 from 9, 5 from 7, and 2 lots of 2 from 5.

Good luck with the hatch

 

[Kev]

First thing would be to candle the eggs. Toss the ones with broken inner membranes- bubble that floats around extremely freely no matter how you turn the egg. Those WILL NOT hatch because that is irreparable damage.

Then there are eggs with detached airspaces... the membrane is not broken but varying amounts of it is 'peeled away' from the inner surface of the eggshell, giving a very jagged outline for the separation between egg contents and airspace. They also 'jiggle'. Those still can hatch but sometimes the hatch rate will be lowered.

Check for cracks and also during candling, there can be cracks that you just don't see until candling. Do not put under hen.. these have a very high chance of breaking due to the weight and pressures of the hen and also from being turned around etc.

The eggs that look as normal as possible are the top candidates for setting under the hen.

How many depends on the hen.. it is possible for two hens you eyeball to be the same size yet one can cover far more eggs than the other. 10 eggs is usually the top number.. so if you candle and have 10 remaining, put all under her and if you cannot see any of the eggs, then this should be okay...

BUT... candle again on day3-5 and if you are easily able to tell which eggs have embryos and which don't, do this and toss those that are not showing embryonic development. If you have 6 remaining eggs after this, it's about ideal and leave her alone until she hatches them out. Maybe candle once more at 2 weeks to see if the chicks are actively growing and how many.

It will seem like you have so many eggs right not but do not be shocked if you end up with only 3-5 chicks.