Wet eggs, need quick advice.

[cscigu]

This screw up is my fault. Had a broody hen setting in our garage, in every hen's favorite spot. Wanted her out of garage, for cleanliness sake.
Fixed up a dog crate, and small pen right near the house. All was fine until overnight. A small rain came just at bedtime. I had covered the dog crate with plastic, and thought it was not an issue.

Unknown to me, the guttering right about the dog crate was apparently blocked, and overflowed right onto the crate, hen and eggs. This morning she was squatting over them, but they were soaked and cold. I got everything dry, replaced straw, etc. Hen took a break of about an hour to eat, then I finally chased her back onto the nest.

Is all hope lost? The eggs were only about 3 days old.

Thanks. Trial and error, I guess.

 

[Tricoglossus]

Leave her be on the eggs for now. Tomorrow, candle the eggs. You will probably see blood lines inside the eggs if the embryos have died. If you can't tell, candle again in a few more days. If you've candles eggs before, you'll know what to look for - obvious "spider web" patterning of blood vessels and the small, mobile embryo. If there is nothing, then the embryos died or the eggs were infertile. Good luck!

 

[Tricoglossus]

Oh and

 

[cscigu]

Leave her be on the eggs for now. Tomorrow, candle the eggs. You will probably see blood lines inside the eggs if the embryos have died. If you can't tell, candle again in a few more days. If you've candles eggs before, you'll know what to look for - obvious "spider web" patterning of blood vessels and the small, mobile embryo. If there is nothing, then the embryos died or the eggs were infertile. Good luck!

I know about the candling, but not really what to look for. Can probably read up, and get an idea. We've had chickens for years, but never tried to hatch any because we've always got rid of the roosters. They run loose all day, and we've had some killer mean roosters. One pulled a gun on me once. This year, I can tolerate our rooster, so I figured I'd let this hen have at it. She's very persistent.

Another issue is that we have only the one rooster for a dozen hens. He's also fairly young, some of the hens older, and I'm not sure how successful he's been.

 

[Tricoglossus]

One rooster for 12 hens should be fine. A good rule of thumb is to have one rooster to about 10 hens. If you had 20 hens then I would think about maybe getting another rooster, but depending on the vigour of the rooster one may be able to service 20 hens with no problem, whilst another may not. You can be the judge of your rooster's fertility by candling the eggs to check how many are fertile. Remember that fertility depends on genetics, nutrition and environment. You can't change the rooster's genetics (unless you switch roosters) but you can influence the other two factors. Nutritionally - make sure your flock is getting a high quality feed, preferably a breeding ration, rather than just a layer ration. Environmentally - keep the number of hens to about 10, as you are doing. I'm not sure what your set up is like, but as with the environment of all animals, low stress, plenty of shelter, ability to express natural behaviours are factors that will all keep them happy.

As for what to look for when candling, have a look at these guides
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/candling-pics-progression-through-incubation-of-chicken-eggs

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs32.htm

 

[boyswillbeboys]

Another issue is that we have only the one rooster for a dozen hens. He's also fairly young, some of the hens older, and I'm not sure how successful he's been.

I have one rooster on 20 hens, every egg I crack seems to have a bullseye, so if he's vigorous like mine, he won't have a problem,

 

[farnorth]

I would wait a couple days and candle the eggs. They could still be good to go.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Last summer one of my hens made a nest in a large flower pot on the side of the house, right where the roof drips down. It got soaking wet several times before she started sitting then several times after she started sitting. It was the wettest dampest nest I ever seen and the eggs actually turned gray from the hen rolling them around in the black potting soil. It was the typical hatch, 12 eggs, 1 was a stinker, 1 was a quiter and 2 were a clear.