I don't know where you live, so i don't know if late October is cold for you. Though, i would personally always trust a broody hen to keep her babies warm.
That said, i just re-read this thread and wanted to make sure you understand about broodies.
There's really not much misunderstanding about whether a hen is broody. She will stay on the nest all the time, and she won't lay eggs. A hen with chicks is not likely to try to brood eggs either. She's too busy raising her chicks.
You could continue to leave the eggs in the nest and hope that someone goes broody, but as you said, it's a little late in the year.
If i were you, i would pitch the eggs that are there and start collecting the daily laid eggs for eating. Then if someone goes broody - and if they do, it won't matter if there are eggs there or not - then you can give them eggs to set and raise chicks.
I feel certain that the eggs you have there now are not going to hatch. It doesn't sound like anyone is setting on them. They're just laying their eggs and moving on. I could be wrong, but based on your description, that's my conclusion.
