First Pip! What's next and help me fix my goof.

[Chew593]

My broody Australorp is sitting on 4 eggs and the first one has pipped and I'm so excited!!! Now here's the issue... Day 1: I put 12 eggs under her and we left for a 3 day weekend. Well, she got nest confused and I came home to cold eggs. HUbby said just leave them and see what happens. That same day my favorite EE hen was in her nest box and so I reached under her... No egg... as I was pulling my hand out she laid her egg right in my palm! It was the weirdest thing. So I put it under my broody. I don't have an incubator. We waited a week and candled and 4 had definate signs of life Including the one that's three days behind, and after further research I see she'll probably abandon any eggs that don't hatch in the next day or 2? What can I do if that happens?
ETA: This is my second hatch so I'm still pretty new to hatching babies. Have mercy on me.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

She may or may not stay on the nest until the last egg hatches. Some of my broodies will wait until the very last egg hatches or I pull it, and some jump off as soon as they have two chicks hatch.

Do you have an incubator just in case? If not, this might be a great reason to get one.

 

[Arielle]

Sounds like you need to get an incubator right now; the LG needs a few days to really set up; perhaps one of the others that just need to be plugged in. Go for the latter if you can. Or perhaps a quick homemade one: a box, heating source, moisture and ventilation are the basics. Try Miss prissy's pages, I think she has easy diagrams.

Good luck.