Advice? Hen won't leave the nest with her chick

[peepers93]

Having a bit of a problem with my broody hen and would appreciate some advice as this is my first experience with allowing a broody to hatch eggs (I've previously used an incubator.)

This is going to be an extremely staggered hatch - not by choice, but a raccoon destroyed 12 of the 15 eggs my hens were sitting on right before they were due to hatch. I had two Silkies sharing a nest but one gave up after the raccoon. The other began stealing any eggs that were laid before I had a chance to get them so if these eggs hatch they're going to be pretty spread out.

One egg hatched last Thursday - so about 4 days ago. The chick is doing great, super cute (it's from a Silkie rooster crossed with a blue egg laying Cream Legbar/Cuckoo Bluebar hen. Super curious about what it's gonna grow up to look like!) Problem is the hen still hasn't left the nest with the chick. I have an incubator...would removing the eggs and incubating then myself be the best bet? If I did that, what are the chances I could give the chicks to the Silkie to take care of after they hatched? Maybe just slip them under her in the evenings?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Have you candled the eggs? If any look like they are very close to hatching, leave them but make sure to put food and water near them. Any that are more than a few days I would hatch in the incubator and sell.

 

[peepers93]

Well just went out to check on the chickens and discovered that my Silkie has made a liar out of me lol! She left the coop with her chick sometime in the last couple hours.

So I went ahead and brought the eggs inside and put them in the incubator. 4 look fairly close to hatching, 5 are much less developed. For now I've got them all incubating. I'll be very pleasantly surprised if any hatch. If I have to brood them myself I will, but has anyone had luck getting a hen to accept chicks that she didn't actually hatch?

 

[peepers93]

One more question - what should the humidity level be? Should I treat it like lockdown and raise the humidity or what? It's currently at 46%. I know raising it could be problematic for the less developed eggs but I'm more concerned with the ones close to hatching at this point.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I have been off/forgetful about hatch dates and not had any issues regarding humidity. Keep an eye and if you see any struggling to hatch from dry membranes then go ahead and raise it.

Regarding the hen, it depends. I had a hen that loved being a mother. It was her passion in life lol. So, she would readily accept late/staggered hatches. Others have a 3 day window to imprint and after that any new chicks are considered things to be eradicated. You will have to carefully test her and see but be very careful - unfortunately sometimes things will seem fine and then ten minutes later a chick has been killed.