When do I give up??

tiffanyh

Songster
12 Years
Apr 8, 2007
2,415
4
211
Connecticut
Okay all! I am a newbie and I am looking forward to some advice! Thanks in advance.

I recently ordered 6 fertilized eggs for my brody buff hen. All was going well. One week into it it seemed as if I had 2 definate positives and one dark blue egg that I could NOT see through. The second week progressed well, then this morning it all went crazy! I go out to a missing egg--of course one of the definates. I found pieces of the shell. Im not sure if if "burst" or if she injured it, as after 1+ months sitting, she has decided to quit as of this morning. ALso, my other definate has a tiny hairline crack. I moved them inside into a homemade incubator as mom moved out of her special box this morning and never looked back. Very out of character for her. THe one cracked egg is 15 days today (Sunday). I dont see any movement but I dont know if that is normal at this stage. I do see a large air pocket and veins. THe other egg that was dark and questionable now has a large air pocket also. Im feeling very disappointed and Im not sure where to go from here. Obviously I will wait it out, but the lack of movement and crack worry me, while the large air pockets encourage me...any advice?
 
Hi! Oh you poor thing!! If I were you I would NOT give up! You've come this far! Go to a local feed store,,look in your phone book. They sale incubators,,,I would go ahead and buy one and get it plugged in and running where you can monitor the humidity better and easier. Meanwhile,,,with your homemade incubator...don't forget to turn the eggs 3 times a day and I would mist them with luke warm water from a water bottle daily. That's the only thing I know to do unless mom decides to come back. Maybe she got spooked after one of the eggs got broken, who knows. Dog gone it! What rotten luck,,,that's my kind of luck really! Don't give up...and if you don't want to buy an incubator just keep a close temperature check on your home made one. Lots of people hatch eggs that way. You can do it! Good luck! Julie:)
 
The hen was broody for over a month before she got the eggs? Its not a good idea to try to get a hen to sit on eggs for another month. It could very well kill her.

Don't give up on the eggs yet. If they didn't freeze there is still a chance you'll get a hatch. Depending on how long it was after she left the nest it will just delay them a day or so if your homeade incubator is doing the job correctly.
 
Mom was sitting on them all night, and when I let her out to get some air in the AM, I noticed she took off. I watched out the window and waited for about 1/2 hours. Her normal routine was to eat, drink, bathe and rush back in. Since she didn't, I pulled them immediatley. The incubator is going well. Temp is regulated and I am picking up a humidity tester today, though I have been keeping it moist with water in the homeade incubator. Do you all think a lack of movement at this stage is normal??? Thats what worries me the most. The second egg, I cant even see through! I can see the air pocket and the rest is so dark even with an LED maglight I cant see in it-although the pocket size has increased.

Mom is very happy, she is perched on her ladder right now, assuming her position as the bully of the group! Ill give her 3 to 6 months to recoup then if she went bordy again, I was going to go for it again-but not wait as long to get started.
 
Sounds to me like you might notice or sense when there is a change about to happen with your birds. That's a good thing because instinct seems to be so important with these guys.

Birds go broody when they go broody. I've got two in my coop who are less than two months from leaving the nest and now are sitting again. I've been so busy I missed it or I would have not let them return to the nest so soon.

Unless you have a candler the dark eggs can be tough to see in to. The eggs are only a week into incubation? If so, then I wouldn't worry too much. Recandle at day 14 and you should see more development and movement.
 

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