Hen has abandoned her last 5 eggs

[Chickie Pia]

Hi everyone, Sorry for not introducing myself. I am not new. Its just been so long since I was on the site that I forgot my username and password.

Anyway I have an emergency and with my limited knowledge I thought I'd ask you guys and gals! *blush*

My RIR eggs started hatching on thursday night and their are about 10 or 11 chicks. Yesterday I put epol chick food in with the mom and babies as well as a very shallow dish of water. She seems to be wanting to leave her nest and has abandoned the other 5 eggs. I know 1 is empty as I candled it around day 12. But I stupidly put it back in the nest So I dont know which one it is and its hard to candle during the day. There are 2 eggs that I can hear chirping from. The other 2 nothing so far. What do I do if she abandons them completely? There are no chips or holes in the eggs yet.

PLEASE help!

 

[TimBaumann]

Hi. I had about the same situation with just one egg though. If the egg is cold/cool to the touch because the hen was off feeding with he hatched chicks I'd immediately take the egg(s) and put them under a heat lamp with a thermometer on top of a wet towel. I didn't have a heat lamp and first needed to buy one so I put the egg onto moist tissues in a small plastic bowl, which I put into a larger bowl with warm water (around 37-40 degrees Celsius). I'd then put a big towel over the water and eggs to keep the eggs warm and humid until you get a heat lamp.

Some chicks are too weak to pip which is often why the mother would abandon the eggs. In that case you'd have to create a pip for the chick. But before you intervene you should wait for about 24 hours since it can take a long time for a chick to pip. If you still hear the chick in the egg after that time but still no pip you could go ahead and create a pip. Here is a great link that guides you through the process of helping an egg hatch: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

I read through that step-by-step guide and I helped one egg hatch. The chick turned into a great little rooster.
If you have an incubator it would make the whole job a lot easier.
Good luck.

 

[Chickie Pia]

Thank you so much for responding. She had moved her chicks to the next nest box. So I picked her up and put her back on the eggs and put her chicks with her. But she moved over and lay down next to the eggs.
We then went for a walk and I checked on her now. I was utterly shocked to find my roster and her on the eggs and chicks. He has never as much as popped his head into the nesting box 'house'.
Would he hurt them? Over the last 23/24 days he had been wondering the gardens with the other hen.

I just wanted to add that because he was in there with her, I didn't even check the eggs.

 

[Chickie Pia]

Its 18h40 now. Should I wait till morning to check?
The chirping was quite strong but no pip in any of the eggs about 5 hours ago.

 

[Peplers chicks]

Its 18h40 now. Should I wait till morning to check?
The chirping was quite strong but no pip in any of the eggs about 5 hours ago.

Yah, the eggs should hatch them self if they are warm, the babies dies inside if they are not warm enough, About the rooster with the hen, I found that it can be a problem, anyway that's what I experienced, What I did was, I took the rest of flock apart from them for at least a week, that gives the babies change to grows strength

 

[Chickie Pia]

Thanks for the reply.
Oh dear. Ill leave him for now. They were both settled and seemed happy. As for the babies and the eggs, I don't know. If I try to move him he will get spooked and probably do some damage.

Until morning then. :-(

 

[Chickie Pia]

I was planning on putting the hen and chicks in a large coop once they all hatched. I have 2 young brahma hens in there.

 

[foreverlearning]

For the rooster with the chicks and eggs it depends on the rooster. My rooster wanted chicks so bad that every time my broody left the nest he would sit on the eggs. When I brought her into the house (because she got aggressive when the other hens tried to "share" the box) my rooster refused to go in the coop until he got to see her and allow her off the nest to eat. My broody however was his favorite hen and he is a really calm rooster because I saved him from someone else's soup pot. None of us can say for sure about your rooster, we can only tell you what happened with ours. Separate her for a few days to a week from the other hens at least by wire so that the chicks have no problems. Keep an eye on your rooster with the chicks to make sure there isn't a problem there. You never know, you might have a nice one.

 

[Chickie Pia]

Thanks for answering. When I checked this morning one egg had hatched,(I saw a dampish one under her),but 1 had died. It looked perfect. So either it was smothered or it was going to die anyway. My rooster seemed so calm last night. I doubt he'd hurt any of them. But he is a first time daddy.
I am worried about the other egg that was chirping yesterday (Im assuming the other one that was chirping was the 1 that hatched). This morning I didnt hear chirping. Its raining now and the darn electricity has gone out. So even if I wanted to try incubate. I cant. :-( Going to check on them quick before it gets too dark.
Its day 24 today. :-(

 

[Chickie Pia]

Ok Rooster is back with his other hen. Mommy and about 11 or 12 chicks. Little gorgeous fluffy chicks *melt*.

I candled the last eggs and 2 seemed like liquid blobs. Then I did the float test and they all were bobbing about 60% under.
I slowly opened them up and all of them were yolkish. I didn't open them completely as that confirmed it for me. No viable babies.

But I have a bundle of babies bouncing around and I can't believe how fast they grow. Too cute. I cant wait to put them in the cage/coop I had made. Its 4m X 3m and 2.3m high. After a week or 2, Ill let them out.