Help! Will eggs hatch after hen left them?

[Shaeley]

I have 6 eggs to hatch mum left them today as 4 had hatched already so I have brought them inside I can see chicks inside after checking with light so have them in by the warmth of the fire will they hatch they are about day 20/21?

 

[Chickiemom25]

You need to get the humidity up to about 70% for hatch I have read.. so the fire is going to dry them out, Do you have an incubator you can borrow for a few days?

 

[Shaeley]

You need to get the humidity up to about 70% for hatch I have read.. so the fire is going to dry them out, Do you have an incubator you can borrow for a few days?

Unfortunately no

 

[microchick]

Yes, they could. You can also set them on a damp washcloth, spritz a mist of water on them- chickiemom25 is correct about getting humidity up. You also need temps as close to 99.5 as you can get them.

Good luck with your hatch!

 

[Chickiemom25]

can you put them in a container and use a fan to move the air and put some sponges in for moisture.. At this point they will die without the proper environment so all you can do it try to simulate it. You need to keep the temp up around 100 as well. Tractor supply carries incubators.

 

[Shaeley]

Yes, they could. You can also set them on a damp washcloth, spritz a mist of water on them- chickiemom25 is correct about getting humidity up. You also need temps as close to 99.5 as you can get them.

Good luck with your hatch!

Thanks. Fingers crossed they hatch tomorrow.

 

[microchick]

I read somewhere here on BYC where somebody in a simular situation used a heating pad under the eggs and then lightly covered the eggs with a slightly damp paper towel. You have to check the towel and temp often but it did work if I remember right.

You said you did candle the eggs and there were chicks inside. Was there movement by the chicks? Is this just the case of a staggered hatch? I recently had three eggs that were from a staggered hatch that I moved inside and finished up with my Brinsea mini eco incubator. One chick was an emergency assist when it decided to enter the world at the wrong end of the egg and was in distress. The chick almost died from weakness due to the combination of mal presentation and blood loss from the emergency assist. I just went out and moved the darling little monster into the maturing pen along with his two sisters. Talk about a spoiled little rooster, he is it. He and his sissies (two OEGB pullets--his egg was slipped in under the radar by a buff orpington hen) are inseparable and living with a lone Welsummer rooster christened "Daddy Bird" as he loves taking care of the youngsters.

So yes, late hatchers do hatch and do very well.