Hi everyone,
I'm sorry no one answered your post. I just now saw it and I assume it's too late but I would wash off the eggs and replace the bedding for the hen.
NO! never wash eggs that you intend to hatch. Try rubbing off any dirt, or even using very fine grit steel wool or sand paper on individual spots (not the whole egg). Washing eggs washes away the bloom - a protective coating that prevents bacteria from entering the permeable shell.
I have a hen (golden sex link) that has been sitting on some eggs for a couple of weeks now. At some point and egg broke (I have no idea how) and all of the eggs in the nest got coated in it. Now the coop smells absolutly horrid! The hen continues to set and now she is starting to lose the feathers on her underside and the skin is getting red. This isn't normal is it? I think that the rotten egg coating is irratating her skin. What should I do? Can I take the eggs and wash them or should I just toss them out? I'll feel bad tossing them if there are chicks growing inside. I also feel bad upsetting the hen by taking away her eggs. What should I do? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance,
Chrissie
By Lisa Hart (Farm_mom) on Thursday, March 25, 1999 - 08:53 pm:
By Liza on Wednesday, June 9, 1999 - 12:59 pm:
If an egg breaks while a hen is brooding, remove the broken egg asap and move the rest to a new nest. Be careful when wiping the broken egg of the others - blot it with a towel - so as to not remove the bloom, or reduce the permeability of the shell.