HELP! Mother abandoned chirping eggs

[chickduckhomie]

Hi all,

My chook is an excellent mother and this isn't her first time sitting but it's her biggest brood by far. She has hatched 6 beautiful fluffy babies but has left 3 viable eggs in the nest. One has pipped and the other two are chirping. I have moved them onto some sawdust under a heat lamp and 5 hours later still chirping but nothing more. I put some moist paper towel into the box with them but I'm not sure it's doing anything.

Please help. I don't want to just be prolonging their death if it's inevitable.

Thanks!

 

[appps]

I would be tempted to lock the mother into the nest box somehow till they hatch. Can you rig up some temporary wire over the opening or something?

Or even move her into a box or cat carrier etc with the eggs and her hatched chicks. I'm thinking she will stay with her chicks and if it's a confined space she is going to have to stay on the nest giving the last eggs a chance to hatch. I'm only guessing about moving her though so do a search on moving newly hatched chicks and hen first.

The ones that have already hatched can go a few days without food or water so it won't hurt them if you lock her in.

 

[sumi]

The most important things those 3 eggs need now are heat and moisture/humidity. Apps made a good suggestion above, but if that fails... The heat lamp would be more than adequate for heat, but they need to be kept at a humidity of around 60% or more, especially the pipped one, to prevent it from drying out too much. Have you got a large glass bowl that you can use to rig up a make-shirt, temporary incubator? Place it upside down over the eggs, leaving a bit of a gap at the bottom for air circulation, and put a wet sponge in there for moisture/humidity. Then place the headlamp so it warms up the space to around 37*C/99*F. Leave the eggs in there until the broody returns to the nest with the little ones and then replace the eggs under her. They should hatch overnight. Good luck and please keep us posted!

 

[appps]

How did you go? Hope to hear they hatched under her during the night!

 

[chickduckhomie]

Hi all I did as you said and put them back under her in a confined space but she just got off them and set herself up with the others right next to them... Perhaps she thought six was enough to look after lol.

Pretty sad that I didn't have an incubator to help them out I feel really guilty. I'll be getting one now

thanks for your help