Broody hen abandoned chick as soon as it hatched - help!

[trcarlton]

I bought 6 hatching bantam eggs for my broody Phoenix x hen; she's been sitting them like a champ, clucking to them, guarding them from the other hens. Now that the first one hatched, however, she wants nothing to do with them. I kept the hen and chick/eggs together, separated from the other hens, hoping she would regain interest, but the chick got colder and quieter and then I thought it died - couldn't see it breathing or moving at all, so I kicked the hen back out to the chicken yard, and took over. I've never done this before and I need help fast. The good news: I've got the chick and eggs under a heat lamp. The chick seems to be doing good, warm, drying out his/her fluff, talkative. I also have a chick feeder (with non medicated chick feed) and waterer set up and ready. The bad news: the other eggs are at varying levels of "doneness", and I have no thermometer or incubator to improve their chances. Recommendations?

 

[cassidy22]

You could set up a separate brooder for the little chick. Heat lamp, water and chick feed is all the little one will need, but definitely keep an eye on the temp, as one little chick has no friends to snuggle up to in order to stay warm

You can put the broody hen back on the eggs, and take the chicks away when they hatch, if you don't have an incubator or something else to put them in to control temp and humidity.

 

[trcarlton]

Hi Cassidy22. I tried that, but the hen won't have ANYTHING to do with them, even with just the eggs. The chick is doing great so far. I introduced him to water, but he hasn't discovered the food yet. I finally found a flashlight and checked the other eggs. They all appear viable; big air pocket with blood vessels and a very dark mass...I'm really hoping they will be ok :/ If they're really close to hatching, do you think they will be ok just close to the heat lamp? I remember how warm they felt when I moved the hen to collect the other hens' eggs, and they feel pretty close to that. When I've been going downstairs about every hour to check on the chick, I've been moving them so they get warmth on all sides. Here's the chick on his venture upstairs so I could eat lunch while keeping an eye on him (yeah, I just wanted an excuse to admire him for a while, I admit it ) If they haven't hatched by tomorrow and the hen is acting broody again, I will put them back under her. She seems pretty done with it all today though ><

 

[trcarlton]

UPDATE: 2 of the eggs have confirmed motion, one of them is scratching and chirping very very softly. YAY!!! I'm so excited!
This is the one where I can see the beak, hear it scratching and chirping
This is the one I can see it moving around a little, but no noise yet.
WOOHOO!!!!

 

[SHRanchHen]

So I'm just curious, I know this was years ago but...did they hatch? You never posted more updates.