Should I take the unfertilized eggs my chicken is sitting on?

Question

I have a single chicken who laid a large clutch of eggs about two days ago. Obviously with no rooster around these are unfertilized and will never hatch. The chicken still sits on them though, is it alright to collect them? I believe I can check if they are safe for consumption by placing them in cold water and seeing if they sink, is this true?

Answer 1

if you bought the chook not long ago then they could be fertilized. one way to check and see if their are chicks is to shine a very bright torch through the eggs and see if you can see a darker figure. this might not work as the shell might be too thick.  

Answer 2

Your hen is going broody, which a hen will do with or without a rooster around.  As this is your only hen, I'm assuming she's been collecting that clutch for more than a week?  Chickens only lay one egg a day and they will take up to 10 days to collect their clutch before they start to set.  Those eggs will sit in a safe, dormant state until she starts to brood them.

As you don't know how long the eggs have been there, I would recommend cooking them up and feeding them back to your hen (leave some broken shells in there as well).  Although eggs have a natural dormant cycle, your hen setting on unfertilized eggs can speed up the decomposition process (heat, humidity).  

I do use the cold water method to check for freshness.  Fill a bowl with cold water (about an inch above the egg).  If the egg lays on the bottem of the bowl, it's fresh.  If it stands on end or floats, discard it.

On a side note, collect your eggs every day - you're throwing out good food!!  Even with one chicken, you can have fresh eggs for breakfast every other day.  Use them and enjoy them - they are so much better than eggs that have been sitting on a store shelf for weeks!

Move your broody hen off of her nest and collect the eggs she has underneath her.  You can try to cold water method to check for freshness, but again, if I find a nest that one of my girls has hidden, I cook the eggs up for the girls instead of for my kids.  Also, if she continues to try to incubate them, they are going to turn into a very smelly mess!  

Answer 3

If your chicken is still sitting on these eggs, and there is absolutely no way in which it is possible for them to have been fertilized, then your hen is most likely 'clucky'. A clucky hen may act somewhat over-protective of these eggs, as her hormonal instincts have kicked in, telling her she must 'incubate' these eggs. If you do not wish to harm yourself, or perhaps aggravate your hen, and you do not need these eggs for your own consumption, it is best to let her sit on them for a few days. After 7 day's, if she has not removed herself from these eggs, then your intervention would be advised. The best possible way to retrieve these eggs that she is guarding would be to have a friend help you by distracting her with food, then quickly remove the eggs yourself. Your hen may 'mope' for a day or 2, but this is entirely natural.

As for checking if they are safe for consumption by using water, I've never personally heard of this way, I just generally crack them and see. If they smell rancid, then they're off.

Answer 4

There's no way the eggs can be fertilised without a rooster around, she's probably just gone broody. that's when they have this natural instinct to sit on eggs and make them hatch. you should collect them, but she might bite or scream. this is normal for broody hens. to stop her being broody (its called breaking up) take her away where she can't see her nest for a few days. she should forget. or if that doesn't work put an ice pack in the nest box so her underside will get cold and she'll give up. they should be safe for eating if they've only been there two days.