Help - trying to save eggs from a murderous broody

[Sheilagh]

Hi there,
One of our hens, Lily, laid eggs and was brooding until two days ago, when another hen, Goldie joined her. Goldie has a history of brooding and then killing the chicks after they have hatched, so we tend to break her when she broods. Lily was off the nest this morning and Goldie had a chick. As she seemed to doing well I left her to it, hoping that maybe this time she would be successful. This turned out, unsurprisingly to be wrong. Came back an hour later to find she had killed Lily's chick.
My problem is that there is cheeping from another egg, and at least five more that look viable when candled, and I have no incubator, and cannot get one in time. I have put the eggs in a towel with a hot water bottle (slightly warmer than skin temprature), and i was hoping someone might be able to help me.
Is there any chance I might be able to hatch these little ones? Any advice?
I have always left the hatching to our hens, who (apart from Goldie) are wonderful with their chicks, so I am a little lost.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Put them under a heat lamp. Put a thermometer under the lamp with them, and cover the eggs with a damp towel. I've incubated for up to two days with bantam chicks in this setup (momma hatched six and left four on her way to escort the littles around the barnyard. Three hatched, one was a dud. They were later successfully re-integrated.)

I suppose a hot water-bottle might also work, but only if you can keep that bottle at a consistent temperature. I've never tried it.

You cold also take the day off and incubate them on your belly, but it's boring and bosses tend to frown on that. It's also inconducive to household chores.

EDT: By cover with damp towel, I meant put the eggs in a bowl with towel on top! I just realised how that sounded! If you don't do that, it'll just act as sweat and the eggs will lose heat!

I'm an idiot who can't write clearly. Sorry.

 

[Sheilagh]

Thanks for your reply, no heat lamp either, our chickens handle everything on their own usually, so i don't have the equipment lots of people do.
I have got a damp warm hand towel over them now ( thanks for that), and I will change the bottle regularly so the heat is as constant as I can make it. After the distress of losing the baby this morning, even one chick would feel like a victory.
I don't have to go to work, as I work from home, but I don't know that my tummy would work overnight ;-)

 

[Laodicia]

Thanks for your reply, no heat lamp either, our chickens handle everything on their own usually, so i don't have the equipment lots of people do.
I have got a damp warm hand towel over them now ( thanks for that), and I will change the bottle regularly so the heat is as constant as I can make it. After the distress of losing the baby this morning, even one chick would feel like a victory.
I don't have to go to work, as I work from home, but I don't know that my tummy would work overnight ;-)

I kept 8 eggs alive over night mid incubation on my belly under a pillow i slept on the couch so I wouldn't roll over. it would work if you didn't mind staying still with a damp towel over you and the eggs.

a normal(incandescent) light in a lamp will work too, so long as you can get the light close enough to the eggs to get them to feel as warm as you.

 

[Sheilagh]

I kept 8 eggs alive over night mid incubation on my belly under a pillow i slept on the couch so I wouldn't roll over. it would work if you didn't mind staying still with a damp towel over you and the eggs.

a normal(incandescent) light in a lamp will work too, so long as you can get the light close enough to the eggs to get them to feel as warm as you.

We only have LED bulbs unfortunately. If necessary I guess that might work with the sofa and damp towel overnight. I am hoping to keep them going with the towel and hot water bottle, I just have to monitor the temprature constantly.

 

[Laodicia]

We only have LED bulbs, and if necessary I guess that might work with sofa and towel overnight. I am hoping to keep them going with the towel and hot water bottle, I just have to monitor the temprature constantly.

hopefully they dont fall after hatching if thats what you end up doing good luck with your babies. was it lily or goldie that you suspect killed the baby? do you think you could convince lilly to sit the eggs and move Goldie into isolation?

 

[Sheilagh]

hopefully they dont fall after hatching if thats what you end up doing good luck with your babies. was it lily or goldie that you suspect killed the baby? do you think you could convince lilly to sit the eggs and move Goldie into isolation?

Goldie is definitely the culprit, she did this last time she brooded. I tried to get Lily to sit on them as my first option, but she wouldn't. She has some nasty pecks on her head - I presume from Goldie - and she was a bit distressed by everything. Lily is young, and this was her first attempt at brooding. Some of our older hens might calm down and hop back on, but Lily is very distressed.
Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Laodicia]

Goldie is definitely the culprit, she did this last time she brooded. I tried to get Lily to sit on them as my first option, but she wouldn't. She has some nasty pecks on her head - I presume from Goldie - and she was a bit distressed by everything. Lily is young, and this was her first attempt at brooding. Some of our older hens might calm down and hop back on, but Lily is very distressed.
Thanks so much for your help.

poor lily looks like you might be baby momma for a while, wish i was nearby (NS CANADA) i have a homemade incubator that works really well, and a big brooder.

 

[Sheilagh]

poor lily looks like you might be baby momma for a while, wish i was nearby (NS CANADA) i have a homemade incubator that works really well, and a big brooder.

I mothered an abandoned chick last year, but she was 3 weeks old (a snake got into the run and afterwards her mother rejected her), so that will be a new challenge for us.
Well I am in eastern Australia, so that is a little distance away!
Thanks so much for the suggestions. She is still chirping every so often, so I am hopeful she is doing okay.

 

[Laodicia]

hello from the dark side of the planet lol glad babys still making noise. they may get really quiet for a long time. wait them out so long as you dont move them around too too much you can try looking inside the round end by shining a flashlight through the shell. if theyve pipped internally you should be able to see a beak shadow. its 12 - 24 hours after internal pip to hatch.
eta: usually