Unattended Broody Hen on wrong clutch

[RevLIT]

We have a broody hen that refused to be detered, so while the weather was still holding, we got some fertilized duck eggs for her to hatch.
Unfortunately, I had to be out of town for a few days. When I went out to check my birds, she was on the eggs that were laid while we were gone instead of the duck eggs. She was on all of them (all my birds tend to lay in the same box), so I think she must have moved there that day. She had been on the eggs for a week before we left, it is 11 days now. Are my eggs going to be okay? I was planning on candling them either tonight or tomorrow and removing any that weren't showing signs of life. Will that still tell the story?

How long should I let her sit before knowing for sure whether this experiment was a failure?

 

[AZcluckers]

I'm new at this also, my girl is sitting on eggs currently. I would candle as you plan and let her continue to sit on any showing life.

 

[Debbie292d]

It's sure worth a shot!

Just a few days ago I had the last egg they had to hatch thrown out of the nest, over the railing, down to the wooden floor 2.5 feet below, apparently the night before. I found it in the morning, 50F, ice cold, but not cracked or broken, which was a miracle in itself. I put it in the incubator and the next day it hatched.

When I had candled it while cold, I did see a tiny flutter in there. You may see something slight. If questionable, I'd put an X or some marking in pencil on them so you'll know the next time you check which ones were suspicious.

 

[RevLIT]

Looks like I have 7 developing ducks. Two were non viable.

 

[RevLIT]

Three hatched today! A little early but they seem healthy.