# Fertile egg or not?



## Vtsuz (May 10, 2014)

Hi all,
I just had a hen go broody, but I haven't had a rooster around since mid august. The eggs wouldn't still be fertile, would they? And would you still eat them if the hen was sitting on them for up to 3 days?
Thanks


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

No, they won't be fertile. Would I still eat them? Probably not. The hen would have kept them pretty warm....I don't honestly think 3 days would be that bad as long as you used them up quickly and cooked them through....certainly wouldn't serve sunny side up!


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## Vtsuz (May 10, 2014)

Thanks!


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## Vtsuz (May 10, 2014)

And now to try to break the broodiness....


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Vtsuz said:


> And now to try to break the broodiness....
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


Ha! Good luck with that one!


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## MylieD (Sep 16, 2013)

Umm, I eat eggs that my hen's been setting on. I don't have a rooster. I've not got eggs for a week before and just added them to whatever's in the fridge. I think it takes a lot to make a fresh egg go bad, as long as you don't wash it. No one's got sick in the two+ years we've had chickens and I've given eggs to loads of people. If you want to check them, put them in water. If they're bad, they float.

As for broodiness, I just let them do their thing. Every once in a while I'll put a broody hen out by the food, but that's it. They get over it eventually. I know there's rougher ways if you really need her to be laying eggs. We just got over a massive molt/broody period. We were getting maybe one egg a week from our 14 chickens for weeks. Finally they're laying again.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

We just went through this. I could not believe she got all broody after we butchered the roosters for the season. Anyway, we broke the eggs separately into a bowl. If they looked fine we ate them. The others were in various stages of development and I fed those to the cats.
I know it is hard this time of year but we found a feed store that still had baby chicks. We bought some and slipped them under her after dark. We lost some but the rest are doing fine. She is really happy to be a mama and the chicks took to her immediately. (Sometimes you have to go out after dark and slip them under the wings as they think they should go to the light for warmth.)


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## Vtsuz (May 10, 2014)

I have the eggs that were under her separated, I'll probably just cook them up for the dogs. She had 11 eggs. We have 5 laying hens including the broody, so it was probably 2-3days worth. This is the same hen that went broody last spring, but thankfully she's in a nesting box and not in the inner corner of the coop like last time. So far I'm able to push her off the nest with a small garden rake, not too much protest, but she tips over pathetically as I push her.


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## Vtsuz (May 10, 2014)

Didn't want to hatch out any at this time of year anyways.


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