Broody hen about to "crack eggs"

[KongOdin]

I have a hen thats due 19th of March (Tomorrow)

It's first time we're doing this and it came as a surprise to have a broody hen. We have definetly not done the proccess good. We had to move the hen to a different room today. (It's right next to the flock. She can easily see the other chicks.

We moved her cause her nest was not a good place for the chicks to come to life. It was in a small box ~150cm up on the wall, with dozens upon dozen of other chicks to grow up with as small chicklings.

What I'm afraid is the broody hen won't finish the job, aswell as she is due to have chicks crack by tomorrow. The first ones anyway. As the hen was with other hens while broody they've kept giving her eggs.

I've done a bad job so I'm here in hope you guys will help me out to try save the chicks.

Should I wait and keep a look if she starts laying on the eggs again? Should I bring her back to the not optimal place since it's too late to move her now? If so what do I do when eggs starts hatching? They won't all crack in same days as it's been fed eggs continously since she started going broody.

In dire need of help. A little stressed.

 

[azygous]

Many of us have been in your spot facing a staggered hatch. I stupidly added a couple of eggs to a nest after a couple got broken, so when the chicks hatched from the original eggs, I was faced with the proposition of them not being cared for while the broody finished incubating the later eggs.

Well, the broody solved the problem for me. As the later eggs hadn't hatched by the time her chicks were chirping madly to be fed, she suddenly jumped off the nest, shook herself wildly, and never looked back at those unhatched eggs. Her chicks were now her new focus.

So, when you see that most of the chicks have hatched, if your broody appears not to be in a hurry to care for them after about 24 hours, then remove those unhatched eggs and she will then turn her focus to the chicks.

To be certain I wasn't killing any would-be chicks, I took the remaining eggs and placed them in a basket of nesting material with a heating pad over a damp towel on top set to the lowest setting. I gave them another 24 hours to hatch and when nothing happened, I tossed them out.