Broody hens with fertile eggs but no hatching

[hrayb]

I have a hen that has been broody for a little over a month now. We have a rooster and I know the eggs are fertile. I’ve candled several and they are developing however one egg was broken and looked to be about 2-4 days away from hatching. none others have hatched. What would be the cause for this?
She does have a lot of broken eggs and she eats the yolk. Could the broken eggs be affecting the ones developing? I cleaned out her nesting space because it had a terrible smell coming from it. I didn’t know if maybe the bloom is getting washed off and then they are getting bacteria? Maybe I am just way over thinking it?? I’m just not sure what’s happening to them when I know they are indeed fertile and developing. I’m begining to worry about her well being since she’s been broody for so long

 

[HappyHippyChick]

I'm not exactly sure what is going on but for one, put the hen in a cage and don't give her any eggs. If she is laying, take the egg out as soon as possible so she doesn't eat anymore eggs. Put some water and cayenne pepper and smear it on an egg like or egg model. Give her some hard golf balls. She must be kept in the cage for a long time. Collect all eggs as soon as they are laid. And add some wooden eggs all over in the nests. Maybe you might have a decent hen to hatch eggs, or you could make an incubator instead.

 

[nuthatched]

Are the others allowed to add eggs?

 

[hrayb]

I'm not exactly sure what is going on but for one, put the hen in a cage and don't give her any eggs. If she is laying, take the egg out as soon as possible so she doesn't eat anymore eggs. Put some water and cayenne pepper and smear it on an egg like or egg model. Give her some hard golf balls. She must be kept in the cage for a long time. Collect all eggs as soon as they are laid. And add some wooden eggs all over in the nests. Maybe you might have a decent hen to hatch eggs, or you could make an incubator instead.

 

[hrayb]

So you think I shouldn’t let her hatch any on her own?

 

[hrayb]

Are the others allowed to add eggs?

She is just in a nesting box, so I suppose the others could be yes. We’ve had another one go broody a couple times and she just keeps them in the nesting box and hatches them fine so we left this one to do the same. But maybe that’s a problem?

 

[nuthatched]

She is just in a nesting box, so I suppose the others could be yes. We’ve had another one go broody a couple times and she just keeps them in the nesting box and hatches them fine so we left this one to do the same. But maybe that’s a problem?

You likely have eggs at all stages of development, try candling them to see their stages

 

[HappyHippyChick]

So you think I shouldn’t let her hatch any on her own?

I thought you were wanting her not to eat the eggs. I think it is more important to stop the hen eating her eggs. She should stop that soon. After she gets trained, she could then (hopefully) hatch eggs.

 

[hrayb]

You likely have eggs at all stages of development, try candling them to see their stages

I just candled them all. And they are all mostly black but I didn’t see any movement or gear anythinf