Yolk on eggs???

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Ardizzone7

Ardizzone7

Songster
8 Years
Jul 5, 2011
233
7
104
Redkey, IN
I have a hen that is at day 20 of sitting on eggs. She got off the nest today to eat and take a small drink so I looked at the eggs to see if any might be piping. When I looked at the eggs, they are dirty with some yolk on them. That was not there before. I think she ate one or 2. Will the others still hatch? I do not have an incubator to put them in so she is the I my chance they have. Any info would be appreciated.
 
Hi Ardizzone7,

Sometimes an egg will get cracked by the hen. Cracked eggs can rot and explode, getting yolk on the other eggs. I would not rinse off the eggs nor be concerned about it, but if she gets off the nest to eat again, you could check the bedding under the eggs to make sure it's not wet with yolk too. If it is, I would quickly change her nesting material with fresh material and place the eggs carefully back like she had it. Don't worry, she will make rearrange her eggs and get everything placed the way she wants it when she returns to her nest. Other than that, I would leave the hen to sit and check again in other day or so.

Normally a hen will lay a clutch of eggs and then sit. If you have other hens that can get to her nesting area, they could have continued to lay eggs in her nest after she began sitting and this could cause some of the eggs to hatch out later than others. I wouldn't get too concerned just yet.

If you purchased the eggs and then placed them all under your broody hen at the same time, then they should have a 21 day hatching cycle. There is always the chance of some late hatchers. I have had a hen hatch out one chick then four days later another 3 hatched. I just let the hen take care of everything. She seems to know much better than I what she is doing.

If you find any of the eggs pushed out of the nest and no longer under the hen, but off to the side getting cold to the touch, then I would toss those ones out. Hens seem to know when an egg has gone bad. Those stinky eggs make quite a mess when they explode.

Soon enough you should have some cute fluffy chicks peeking out from underneath her feathers.

I hope you have a successful hatch! Take care.
 
Thank you so much! She has been so good and I would hate for all of her time to be waisted. She wants to be a mama soooo bad! We have a mix of eggs under from her and other hens. We have even had to push out other hens that want to broody on her clutch. It is amazing how one broody hen can spark others into going broody. It started with a duck of ours hatchling out 7 of her eggs. Then 2 days later the comet went broody. Then the next week another duck went broody! We are going to have babies everywhere!!!:D
 
So we are 7 days later from last post and no chicks. I candled them 5 days ago and found they are at staggered days of development. Some looked like day 18 and others were completely dark. I could not see veining or anything. Just dark and a small air sack. What should I do? Should I candle again tonight to see what is going on? I really don't know much about what I am doing. I hate to pull any and crack them for fear they would have hatched and then my poor hen has no chicks. Feed stores are not carrying chicks anymore so i cant buy any to put under her. I know the oldest ones are more than 3 weeks old. Any advice would help.
 
I think so too. Just curious though as to why some of the eggs were completely black with only a small air bubble. From what I have seen you should be able to see veining or more air sack or something.
 

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