Mother hen abandoned nest

[Jeanie S]

I have never had a mother hen to hatch out her own eggs before. We always bought day old chicks. My problem is she has hatched out 2 healthy chicks and ejected the renaming eggs from the nest. I put them back after a couple hours when she didn't put them back under her. Now she has moved to another spot in her box with her babies and left the other eggs. I kept an eye on her but she hasn't come back to them all day and they were cold. I candled them and 3 are very full the light only goes threw a very small part at the bottom of the egg. I brought them in the house and put a red heat lamp on them. Will this work? Did I do wrong and should return them to mamma and how she comes back to them?

 

[Jeanie S]

Can anyone give me any advice on this. This has been 9 hours the eggs have been under the light in the house. Will any survive?

 

[Choco Maran]

If the hen rejected the eggs they probably will not hatch. You mentioned they where cold when you brought them into the house. If this is the case they where probably non-viable when you found them. In order to hatch they need high humidity so just being under a infrared red light will not work. How ever I'm not an expert on this so maybe some one else can help you better.

 

[Zgm12]

Can anyone give me any advice on this. This has been 9 hours the eggs have been under the light in the house. Will any survive?

Put them in an incubator if you have one. Otherwise you definitely need humidity to hatch. Maybe use a humidifier? I had a Silkie egg hatch after the mother abandoned it on day 18. The egg was cold when I brought it in. After just one day in the incubator, she hatched early into to a beautiful little chick. It's worth a shot to give them a try.

 

[missSimon]

My hen got eaten and this is the first time I had a hen lay on her eggs so when I noticed she was gone I took them in the house and put them under a heat lamp I candled them and only 5 were moving a week later today only 1 hatched.

 

[Jeanie S]

Thank you so much for all of your responses. I will put a humidifier in today and hope for the best. How would I be able to tell if they alive? Or do I just wait and see?

 

[Jeanie S]

Went in to check on the eggs and I am hearing chirping from one of the eggs. What does this mean help. I'm a newbie at this.

 

[Zgm12]

Went in to check on the eggs and I am hearing chirping from one of the eggs. What does this mean help. I'm a newbie at this.

That means that one is internally pipped and has access to the air cell now. Within the next twelve hours or so it'll probably start pipping and breaking through the shell. As far as telling if they're alive, you could candle and lightly tap the shells to see if they respond. I wouldn't touch them if they're trying to hatch though.

 

[Jeanie S]

Thank you so much!! I can't wait, I'm so excited. A few of the eggs have gotten a funny shape now. What does that mean?

 

[Zgm12]

I don't exactly know what you mean by funny shapes. Do you have any updates on the eggs?