When does 21 days start for a hen sitting on eggs?

[SoutheastAK_chickens]

Does the count down for a hen hatching eggs start the day she sits her broody butt down? My silkie is at 20 days broody with 3 very live eggs however I feel like the air pockets look like they only around 14 days? Is it just me being brand new to candling and first time ever letting a hen sit on eggs. My imformation is mostly based on youtube videos so..should they really be hatching anytime now or does the 21 days not count from the very first day she sits?

 

[GracePoultry]

from my knowledge it should start as soon as the eggs start incubating. Just 2 days ago I hatched a chick for the first time and I thought it had probably another week to go when it pipped.

 

[SoutheastAK_chickens]

from my knowledge it should start as soon as the eggs start incubating. Just 2 days ago I hatched a chick for the first time and I thought it had probably another week to go when it pipped.

Oh good to know!!! We just put a baby monitor in the coop so we could listen for chirps so good to know we really will soon! I think one of the eggs is maybe a week behind(laid by a dark brahma mixed with silkie rooster) and another silkie brooding but we've been taking the eggs from under her (not her eggs she stopped laying for some reason). Do you think if that 3rd egg doesn't hatch on time that i could slip it under my other silkie and she will possibly raise it?

 

[GracePoultry]

Oh good to know!!! We just put a baby monitor in the coop so we could listen for chirps so good to know we really will soon! I think one of the eggs is maybe a week behind(laid by a dark brahma mixed with silkie rooster) and another silkie brooding but we've been taking the eggs from under her (not her eggs she stopped laying for some reason). Do you think if that 3rd egg doesn't hatch on time that i could slip it under my other silkie and she will possibly raise it?

Yes! silkies are normally always determined to sit on eggs so its definitely worth trying!

 

[SoutheastAK_chickens]

Yes! silkies are normally always determined to sit on eggs so its definitely worth trying!

Awesome I will!! I was gonna try to find a last minute incubator but sticking it under another broody girl would be way simpler! But she is young like maybe started playing eggs a few months ago my older silkie being broody must have promoted her to do it too

 

[Ridgerunner]

An egg does not have a day's worth of development the instant you put it under a broody. It takes 24 hours for it to get a day's worth of development. That is a very common mistake on this forum. An easy way to check your counting is that the day of the week you put them under her is the day of the week the 21 days are up. If you started them on a Wednesday then the 21 days are up on a Wednesday.

Whether under a broody hen or in an incubator many eggs do not hatch in exactly 21 days. They can easily be a couple of days early or late. That can be very frustrating when you now the time is up but there are still no chicks. Be patient. Good luck!

 

[SoutheastAK_chickens]

An egg does not have a day's worth of development the instant you put it under a broody. It takes 24 hours for it to get a day's worth of development. That is a very common mistake on this forum. An easy way to check your counting is that the day of the week you put them under her is the day of the week the 21 days are up. If you started them on a Wednesday then the 21 days are up on a Wednesday.

Whether under a broody hen or in an incubator many eggs do not hatch in exactly 21 days. They can easily be a couple of days early or late. That can be very frustrating when you now the time is up but there are still no chicks. Be patient. Good luck!

Thankyou that's good to know! And I didn't put eggs under her she collected them herself lol and the day we started the count down was just the day we noticed her not leaving the nest so she could have been on them a few days longer than we know mostly because she is new to the flock and was very quiet anyway so we let he be a lot. Today is day 20 so I'm definitely monitoring her and we got her little broody area all set up

 

[nuthatched]

It starts 24 hours after the incubation starts.