What to do when there are multiple hens sitting on a big nest?
Well, one thing is to candle the pile of eggs to reduce the number so the remaining ones have a chance at survival…I found that the hens kept rolling eggs around to have their own batch and some were ending up outside the nest.
I bought a rechargeable LED candler on Amazon for under $20 and decided to try it out. Below are two examples, one is a fertile growing egg and the other is a broken egg (not visible until candled).
This is a broken egg. It looks like it either rolled against something hard or got pecked by a beak. If the egg was almost done developing, I’d leave it as the break is only shell level and not into the membrane. But since it’s shell level and the nest is overwhelmed, it was added to the pig food bucket.
This is a fertile and growing egg. Notice the embryo in the middle with blood vessels radiating outward-all is going well!
All of the eggs that candled at this stage were marked and given back to the ducks. Advice: Remove the hen off the nest before trying this or you will probably get a bunch of pinch bites! I only candled after I was certain the hens were staying on the nest so they didn’t abandon it, about a week after I noticed they only came off for food and water.