What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
I gave Peach 8 eggs and I swear I marked them all...I swear I did!! However this morning I had opportunity to check them when she got off the nest, and there are 11 eggs...but I can find only 7 marked ones!! I marked the 4 new(?) with "O" (the others have "X") so I can at least tell them apart, but one of these must be from the original 8!!. Shes been sitting for a week now. Do I just wait it out and see whats left in the nest after she hatches the chicks out (and then just throw them out, even though they might have fully healthy partially developed chicks in them)? Do I try to candle? (have no idea what I'm really looking for and the eggs are brown). Do I try to build a homemade incubator to hatch the part incubated leftover eggs? What do you guys do??
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- Killerbunny
- Poultry Guru - total zen level
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Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
I candle them. Brown isn't usually a problem by a week old unless they are Marans or something. I like to have only eggs that will hatch around the same time so Mum gets the stimulus to lead them out. I always have a spare incubator going just in case, in fact I have 2 turkey eggs in one ATM because these were set to hatch later.
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Beltsville Small White turkeys.
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Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
I agree candle them. You can either put the first group into a brooder and let her hatch out the rest. I've done that in the past many times. Or you can let her hatch and keep the first batch and put the rest in an incubator or under another broodie.
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- windwalkingwolf
- Poultry Guru - pullet level
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I agree with the above two :) Candle them. Even if you don't know what you're looking for, the more you do it, the better you get at it. I for one can't bear the thought of throwing away live eggs, so if a mom leads out chicks (usually when they're 2-3 days old) and eggs are left behind either because they're just late or because of a sneaky hen, I put them in the incubator to finish. But for you, it's early and some might not even have begun developing yet, so candling is your best bet. Eggs that have been in there only a day or two from the original batch, will sync up somewhat in development with the original set eggs, but a week is a bit too much to ask. Since you KNOW there's a sneaky hen, and don't have an incubator, taking chicks as they hatch and putting them with a heat source until mum is done and you can add them back, is probably the easiest thing to do.
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- Farrier1987
- Stringy Old Chicken
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Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
Mark well when you set the hen, I use felt pen. Check every day and those that don't belong are removed to your egg basket.
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Farrier1987. South of Chatham on Lake Erie. Chickens, goats, horse, garden, dog, cat. Worked all over the world. Know a little bit about a lot of things. No incubator, broody hens.
- Happy
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Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
When I gave Little her eggs only one of them was her own egg. I wrote her name on it in pencil...not for any real reason-i just did. I learned that a hens naked belly works like a big pink eraser. Her name was gone in just a few days!
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- WLLady
- Stringy Old Soup Pot Hen of a Moderator
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Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
so i would candle them, put all the ones at the same stage back under the hen and then of course pull out the incubator for the rest ;-P
use a fine tip sharpie to write on the eggs....won't hurt the eggs, and takes a lot longer to rub off.
use a fine tip sharpie to write on the eggs....won't hurt the eggs, and takes a lot longer to rub off.
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Pet quality wheaten/blue wheaten ameraucanas, welsummers, barred rocks, light brown leghorns; Projects on the go: rhodebars, welbars
Re: What to do with the eggs that were "snuck" in?
If I had an incubator I'd have a whole new set of questions!
Next investment!
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