Hen moved off nest with unhatched eggs

[GLchicken]

My hen was sitting on 6 eggs in a nesting box. Yesterday on Day 21 two hatched. Today is day 22 and she has now moved down from the nesting box with the chicks. Does this mean these others eggs won’t hatch? I put them down where she is now just in case? First time hatching chicks!

 

[Yardmom]

The mom will move the chicks to get food and water after a couple days whether the other eggs are good are not. You can use a phone flashlight to shine in the air cell to see if you see movement. Did the mom have all the eggs to start at the same time?

 

[DobieLover]

My hen was sitting on 6 eggs in a nesting box. Yesterday on Day 21 two hatched. Today is day 22 and she has now moved down from the nesting box with the chicks. Does this mean these others eggs won’t hatch? I put them down where she is now just in case? First time hatching chicks!

Were all the eggs set under her at the same time? Did you candle at day 7 and 14 to check for development? Have you examined the eggs to see if they've pipped?

 

[GLchicken]

All of the eggs were put under her at the same time. I candeled midway and was unsure about a couple of them but one of the unhatched ones definitely looked viable then. We put the eggs down where she is now closer to the food and water. We will see what today brings! This is my first experience with this and I must say I was pleasantly surprised to even get 2 chicks.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

My hen was sitting on 6 eggs in a nesting box. Yesterday on Day 21 two hatched. Today is day 22 and she has now moved down from the nesting box with the chicks. Does this mean these others eggs won’t hatch? I put them down where she is now just in case? First time hatching chicks!

Update? Did she end up sitting back on the eggs to hatch?
I had a hen do this, but then I confined her and chicks and the other eggs and she ended up sitting back on them while also teaching her chicks how to eat/drink. It also just depends on the hen. Sometimes they'll just want to hatch their chicks out, be mama, and not care about the eggs anymore. Other times she will be devoted to the eggs until all hatch, I think it also has to do with hormones.

 

[GLchicken]

Update? Did she end up sitting back on the eggs to hatch?
I had a hen do this, but then I confined her and chicks and the other eggs and she ended up sitting back on them while also teaching her chicks how to eat/drink. It also just depends on the hen. Sometimes they'll just want to hatch their chicks out, be mama, and not care about the eggs anymore. Other times she will be devoted to the eggs until all hatch, I think it also has to do with hormones.

She did not hatch the others unfortunately.