HELP Chicks hatched! What do I do now?

[willowtreecreek]

I have had four hens for just over a year. When they went broody a few weeks ago I got some fertile eggs from a friend for them to sit on and they started hatching yesterday. Now I am not sure what to do. They are in the nest still with 2 hens and lots of not yet hatched eggs. Our temperature is hovering around 100 degrees. The chicks are up in the nest and not near the water. Do I need to move them down or let the mama take care of it?

HELP!!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

If there is space up by the nest, put a SHALLOW little dish up there so they can all get to it, mom included, as she probably doesn't want to leave the unhatched eggs yet. I wouldn't move them down because that will upset momma, and in her fluster to get her babies all back together, she may stop setting...

That being said, they can live off the absorbed yolk for a couple days after they hatch, and are in no immediate danger.

Good luck!