I have had three successful hatches under a broody in the past. I have never done anything special with the eggs, just collect a dozen, and pop them under the broody and wait. I wanted to share the story of my broody's latest hatch because I have never heard of chicken eggs taking over a month to hatch and surviving. Hopefully, it might encourage others to give it some more time when faced with a similar situation.
I went away the last week of March and had my neighbour collecting the eggs for me. When I returned on April 1st, I found two hens sitting on 16 eggs! (One had already shown signs of broody-ness, but I was going to wait until it warmed up a bit before I let her set.) My neighbour told me that on Tues.(Mar.27th), she went to collect the eggs, but my hen pecked at her so she left them. Her husband later told her she should have taken the eggs because now a chick might be forming, so she stopped collecting the eggs altogether out of fear she would be killing a chick.
I figured April 17/18 would be day 21 for the earliest chicks and that the hatch would be staggered over the next 4-5 days. I marked the eggs they were sitting on since my other three hens were still laying in there too and I needed some time to set up an area to move them to. I collected the unmarked eggs until a few days later when I moved the broodies and the marked eggs at night. I candled the eggs which looked good, (except for the blue eggs which I could not see through). Well day 21(Tues)came and went without a peep. So did the next 5 days. I left the eggs under them with the faint hope that the later chicks might still hatch. By Sunday April 29th, a full 28 days after I had returned, I had given up hope. I left the eggs under them and planned to pick up some day olds on Tues. at our local livestock market to slip under them.
However, while I was in the coop on Monday, I thought I heard a peep. I lifted one of the hens and sure enough, a chick had zipped and was working it's way out of the shell...I was ecstatic! I felt like she was a little miracle. I still thought I would pick up some day olds because I didn't want the two mommas to fight over her, and I felt like she'd need some friends. The next morning, before I went to market, I checked on the girls and found yet another chick hatching. I decided not to buy more chicks because if eggs can hatch after 30 days, why not 31 or 32? On Thurs night, I found another chick zipping and she was jumping around by Friday morning. This morning, a fourth chick hatched.
So the hens have been on these eggs since at least April 1st(some since March 27th), and today, May 5th, they are still hatching!!! I have never heard of this, or even considered it a possibility. The mommas have been taking turns getting off the nest to show the chicks to feed and water, but then they hop right back in the nest.
Has anybody ever heard of eggs taking this long to hatch? I can't believe I almost threw these eggs away.
I went away the last week of March and had my neighbour collecting the eggs for me. When I returned on April 1st, I found two hens sitting on 16 eggs! (One had already shown signs of broody-ness, but I was going to wait until it warmed up a bit before I let her set.) My neighbour told me that on Tues.(Mar.27th), she went to collect the eggs, but my hen pecked at her so she left them. Her husband later told her she should have taken the eggs because now a chick might be forming, so she stopped collecting the eggs altogether out of fear she would be killing a chick.
I figured April 17/18 would be day 21 for the earliest chicks and that the hatch would be staggered over the next 4-5 days. I marked the eggs they were sitting on since my other three hens were still laying in there too and I needed some time to set up an area to move them to. I collected the unmarked eggs until a few days later when I moved the broodies and the marked eggs at night. I candled the eggs which looked good, (except for the blue eggs which I could not see through). Well day 21(Tues)came and went without a peep. So did the next 5 days. I left the eggs under them with the faint hope that the later chicks might still hatch. By Sunday April 29th, a full 28 days after I had returned, I had given up hope. I left the eggs under them and planned to pick up some day olds on Tues. at our local livestock market to slip under them.
However, while I was in the coop on Monday, I thought I heard a peep. I lifted one of the hens and sure enough, a chick had zipped and was working it's way out of the shell...I was ecstatic! I felt like she was a little miracle. I still thought I would pick up some day olds because I didn't want the two mommas to fight over her, and I felt like she'd need some friends. The next morning, before I went to market, I checked on the girls and found yet another chick hatching. I decided not to buy more chicks because if eggs can hatch after 30 days, why not 31 or 32? On Thurs night, I found another chick zipping and she was jumping around by Friday morning. This morning, a fourth chick hatched.
So the hens have been on these eggs since at least April 1st(some since March 27th), and today, May 5th, they are still hatching!!! I have never heard of this, or even considered it a possibility. The mommas have been taking turns getting off the nest to show the chicks to feed and water, but then they hop right back in the nest.
Has anybody ever heard of eggs taking this long to hatch? I can't believe I almost threw these eggs away.
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