Mama hen off her eggs overnight at ~19 days. Will they hatch??

[AYoung90]

I need advice please!

I have another broody hen who has been dutifully sitting in her eggs for about 20 days now. Around day 3 or 4, she got back in the wrong nesting box & was sitting on the wrong set of eggs. I put her back on her eggs as soon as I noticed, but I'm guessing that will delay hatching. I candled 3/8 eggs around day 10 & all 3 were alive. BUT yesterday, my kids put a toy in her nesting box so she did not settle on her eggs & chose an empty box instead. It would have been yesterday evening-ish. I just found the eggs this morning & they were cool to the touch, she'd definitely been off them overnight tomorrow would be day 21. Will they still hatch???

 

[Cluckwork Orange]

I'd be pessimistic, but there's no reason not to give it a couple days.
what are your overnight temps in mesa?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

If they were cool, that's not sounding good. Make sure she doesn't leave the nest! Once the eggs are warmed up, try chirping or making hen sounds to them. They might chirp back (easing your fears). If they don't, don't assume that they're dead, because they might just not be chirping back. Keep them under the broody and give them to about day 25 (for safe measure). I don't think that will delay their hatch too much, except for a couple of hours to a day.

For the broody, is there a possibility you could block the nest so she can't escape? I've put a small cave in front of a nest before with food and water to block hens from going in or the broody to come out on the lockdown days.

 

[AYoung90]

I'd be pessimistic, but there's no reason not to give it a couple days.
what are your overnight temps in mesa?

That's my thinking too. High 60s/low70s. Still cool for eggs

 

[Ridgerunner]

Will they still hatch???

It is obviously not good but I would not give up. At that stage the chicks inside the eggs are generating a fair amount of heat so they still have a chance. I don't see anything to gain by giving up. I don't see anything to lose by letting it play out as it will.

I wish you luck.

 

[tvandchicks]

My hen hatched 3 out of 10 eggs 3 days ago . I did the warm water test on the remaining eggs and could see movement on 6 of them she doesn’t seem to want to stay on the nest now should I go invest on an incubator? Or just leave them alone since I live in az and it is supposed to be 106 today ?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

My hen hatched 3 out of 10 eggs 3 days ago . I did the warm water test on the remaining eggs and could see movement on 6 of them she doesn’t seem to want to stay on the nest now should I go invest on an incubator? Or just leave them alone since I live in az and it is supposed to be 106 today ?

If she's leaving the nest, then move the eggs to the incubator. Watch the incubator closely, because if it hasn't been running for 24-48 hours for trial.

 

[Oob Child]

Updates?