some chicks have hatched, still 3 eggs left, hens not on nest

[amythebooklady]

I have had 2 broody hens, sitting on 8 eggs. 4 have hatched (Monday night into Tuesday), 3 are unhatched and 1 has completely disappeared! Last night I combined the 2 hens and the 3 eggs and 4 chicks into one nest because the hens were squished together into one of the hens nesting spot, which means that one hen had left her nest that still had eggs in it. They seemed to want to be together.

Today everyone is fine, walking around, and the two hens have taken the 4 chicks to the food and water area. All very peaceful.

So can I take this to mean that they are done sitting? The eggs are heavy but there is no movement or sound coming from them.

The hen who chose to cuddle up with the other hen and the chicks last night didn't do much sitting on her nest yesterday, but I was hoping that this was because it was such a hot day...but maybe not.

Should I remove the eggs or give it a little more time? I have read that you can slip in other chicks in at night and the moms might take them on, but what's the window of opportunity (if I can even find some!)

Thanks for any suggestion you may have.

 

[chooks4life]

I'd still slip them under the hens at night for a few more nights, you can still get more chicks if they're viable. Being left to go stone cold doesn't kill them, they go into a sort of metabolic stasis until the temperature rises again. But I'd be out there early in the morning again to take custody for the day of any chicks which began hatching late and didn't make it out of the egg before the mothers got up to range with the other bubs.

Best wishes.