Why does my hen keep pushing her eggs away?

[parkerpeeps7]

So I have a hen who is broody & she is pushing her DEVELOPING eggs away. She was sitting on them & things were going great. I went out there yesterday and she had pushed two away from her. The day before she pushed 1 away, granted I had candled that one so I thought it was b/c I had touched it but I didn't touch the other 2. Also I have found 3 broken eggs with developing membranes in them. The end is cracked open and everything is gone but the 2 or 3 day old embryo. I don't know what that is happening either & I don't know who is doing it. Any help would be appreciated, I just don't want to have to crack open another egg that she has abandoned and see a baby in there.

Thanks,
Amy

 

[Easter eggers]

I've read that if the eggs are a different color than hers sometime she will reject them. I hope this helps I will follow up on your thread so if you have any questions just ask.

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

Perhaps the hen can tell that there is something wrong with the eggs. If they stop developing for some reason, that could be why she pushes them out. A dead embryo soon becomes a bacteria time bomb that threatens other healthy eggs.

It could be that she simply has too many under her. Based on what you say you've found (1 reject two days ago, 2 yesterday plus three cracked eggs) that hen has more than 6 eggs under her. I don't let broody hens try to set more than 10 eggs at a time. I only have large fowl, so I'd say even fewer for bantams unless they only have bantam eggs under them. Is this the first time she's gone broody? First-time broodies are a bit of a toss-up. I had a blue Ameraucana successfully hatch 9/10 eggs (she was almost 3 years old) and then I've had another first-time broody Australorp hatch 5/10 and then inadvertently kill two of them by scratching around in the nest when they were too little to get away.

 

[parkerpeeps7]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies!
The egg that I candled was her egg, which is white & she pushed it out the day after I candled it. The others have been brown.
She isn't a bantam but she is smaller than a regular sized chicken b/c she is Old English Game. The last time I lifted her up she had maybe 8 eggs under her. I can't see them sticking out anywhere underneath her but I wondered if there were too many also. Would she kick out that many due to development problems? It seems like an awful lot to me but this is my 1st time with a broody hen & this is her 1st time also. Her sister is also sitting on eggs too and 2 of the broken ones I found near her & the other near my 1st hen; Sunshine is her name.
Also, do broody hens still lay?
Thanks again!

 

[Easter eggers]

No once broody hens have a clutch they will not lay for the 21 days

 

[parkerpeeps7]

No once broody hens have a clutch they will not lay for the 21 days

Okay great thanks!

 

[parkerpeeps7]

Well yesterday and today there have not been any eggs pushed out so that is good news! Hopefully we are in the clear with that but we are going to purchase an incubator just in case. It sure is stressful trying to hatch chicks!

 

[chickenman36]

never done it but looking forward to it as soon as my 3 mo olds start to lay

 

[parkerpeeps7]

Good luck! These are our 1st too!

 

[clucky3255]

That sure is weird! But I am glad it has stopped!

I have never hatched chicks before but have gotten day old's from the local farmers supply. Right now I have 3 araucanas (Spelled??) ,2 guineas ,a cherry,and cuckoo maran. They are nearly pullets now and hopefully will lay better than the 5 hens I have now.

They only lay 2-4 eggs a day...sometimes we don't get any!!

Does anyone know that I posted a post? It is a new thread andit is called....." do i need any vitamin supplement for my sisters duck? HELP ME!!"