HELP Newbie needs advise when a hen leaves her nest...

[QiPointFarm]

I have a hen who seems to have left the nest of un-hatched eggs. Of the 12 she's been sitting on, 5 have hatched and she moved off the remainder of the eggs and is nesting with the hatched chicks.

I have one unhatched (not even a cracked) egg that I can hear peeping... what should I do?

My first time hatching. Don't want to over react, but also don't want to loose any babies if I don't have too. I do not have an incubator, I was letting it all up to the hen.

 

[joedie]

Can you slip them back under her?

 

[firedove]

If you have a hot desk lamp you can put them into a bucket on a towel and shine the lamp down into the bucket. You will need a damp sponge or two in with the eggs as well to keep the humidity up for hatch. With hatch really close like that you can fudge the temps a bit, just keep them very warm in a moist area.