serekunda80 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 My chicks are due the 5th May onwards,my broody has been sitting very well on them, today I noticed one of the eggs outside the nesting area, she would have had to physically move it, would she have possibly known it to be no good, non fertile? I have put it back near her to see if she may put it back under her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hens will kick out bad eggs, I don;t know how they know but they do Unfortunately they do also sometimes kick out good eggs - much less common but it does happen. If by some chance it happened by accident, assuming she can see it she may put it back under her. If she doesn't and there is life in the egg then not being warm will kill it, so assuming it doesn't smell bad then really you should either put the egg back under her (and if she rejects it again I'd be inclined to think its a dud) taking the chance that it won't hatch, or accept its a dud now and bin it. Usually I open eggs to see what has gone on, but if you do this pleased be prepared to potentially see a partially developed embryo. If you do reunite the egg with the hen you could put a pencil mark on it, so you can check in a few days and see what happened to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dance in the dark Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I have just recently read something about this actually, and what the book recommends it that you mark the egg with pencil, and, assuming it is still warm when you find it out of the nest, you can pop it back under the hen. If you find she does this will the same egg two more times, it is best to just take it away because she has obviously rejected it. If however, she frequently loses other eggs, she may just be sitting on too many eggs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Have I missed my vocation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dance in the dark Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 you know, that is so weird, when I went to reply to that your previous comment wasn't shown Daphne, I swear!! As far as I could see I was the first person to respond, I read that in the complete chicken encyclopedia, how very embarrassing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 No need to apologise, nothing wrong, great minds and all that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 this was asked on the forum last year if I remember right someone said that a dud dosn't hold the heat like a developing egg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 They even eat some eggs & will even eat ' quitters ' too. Clever chooks are! Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serekunda80 Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 She accepted the egg back under her and now she is just sitting tight so now just a waiting game hope I get at least a few to hatch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serekunda80 Posted May 5, 2012 Author Share Posted May 5, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
