Something got at my chickens last night. It got the 2 silkie hens and 1 silkie rooster that stay in the same nest box, together. I have another hen that is sitting on eggs, who's in a different nest box. She was off the eggs this morning and some of the eggs had been removed. Wondering if there's any chance the 'chicks' inside the rest of the eggs would survive?
How long will 'started' eggs 'survive' if hen gets off?
The eggs have up to 14 days and then they go bad.. Do you have a incabator?? If not make one or buy one.. The eggs in a incabator will be 21 days to hatching.. How long has the hens been off the eggs??? If only to eat and drink and back on them they will be okay..
Tracey
She's been on them for 2 weeks. Only getting off to eat and drink for those two weeks, but I don't know how long she was off of them for, last night. By the time I found the carcass remains of the dead ones they were cooled off and so were the eggs. She was probably scared half to death and was still sitting in the nest box, but not on the eggs. I let her be and checked on her later. She had moved and so I took her out of the box, gently to get a drink and she still had 1 of the eggs. The others that she wasn't covering this morning I took out and put in the incubator right away. Will they have cooled off too much?
Halnik, Im so sorry! It seems we are all having a rash of nest robbers here lately! Im afraid that you have lost all your eggs! Try settling your hen and giving her new eggs, if available! If she is still broody, she will set them! Just put her nest if possible in a large enclosed area or wire cage ! Put in her own waterer and feeder! Then leave her be! Just keep a watch on her! Hopefully she will hatch some new ones for you. Good luck!
She did still have an egg under her, so I'll just leave her with the one. I've already got a batch of 22 eggs hatching as we speak, in the incubator, so I don't really need any more. She will be moved from that nest box when it starts getting dark so she can settle in her new place during the night. It's the same place she spent part of the really cold winter, so it won't be too drastic a change.