hen w/chicks and eggs unhatched..help!

[secuono]

So my Jap hen hatched 3 chicks 3 days ago, but there are several more eggs that are dark with chicks in them. She nests on them with her chicks, but not 24/7 to actually hatch anymore. What do I do?!

Should I crack one open((how do I go about doing that))? Wait? Put them in a box with a heat lamp and a cup of water((I don't have a incubator, won't buy one til later))?

Help!

 

[chickenlady08]

Quote:
Is it possible to take the chicks she has hatched out from her and let her brood the remaing eggs. I had to do this with a hen last year and then once the last chick hatched I gave her the other chicks that had already hatched. I would not do this until night time though. It is close to time for her to leave the nest with her new babies, and she may not stay on the nest any longer even if you take the hatched chicks from her.

I wish you luck and hope you get a few more chicks.

Good Luck

Can you candle the eggs to make sure there is life in the egg? And I wouldn't not crack an egg open because if a chick is alive you will kill it.

Did you set the eggs the same time under her? Mine got staggered because they got buried in the bedding that is why I had a staggered hatch times.

 

[secuono]

She freaks and calls them if they are taken from her.
The eggs are solid dark when I candle them.
I didn't add eggs, they kinda added up and then one days she sat on them.

 

[ChooksChick]

You can use a heating pad on them when she isn't sitting, or you can lock her in a cat or dog crate so she sits on them and just has her chicks there, too. You just need to put food and water in with them. I vote for the second choice if you can swing it.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

I spent 3 days heating and reheating 3 microwave heatpacks and placing them around and on a shoebox... with a thermometer from my greenhouse and a damp paper towel... and everything covered with a blanket by the wood burner. The same can be done with old socks filled with dry rice... the rice will give off moist heat for humidity... or sprinkle with water to give even more humidity. At night when mom settled in with the chicks, I'd place eggs with her so i could sleep. Hatched 3 beautiful babies about a week and a half ago and today they spent their first all day out with mommy and a total of 12 babies. It wasn't easy but it can be done. Good luck!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

... and don't "help" them until they have at least pipped and only if they seem to be having trouble! Again... good luck!

 

[secuono]

Some of you may or may not of found this thread, but this is what happened to some of the eggs I was worried about and others.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5040524#p5040524

 

[elaucht]

I have found that once she gets up, you can pretty much forget the rest, unless you have another hen rite there. You said it has been 3 days, i'm sure the others are dead. sorry.

 

[secuono]

I do have another hen sitting, but she just started, don't want her to leave her eggs when these hatch a few days later, you know? Plus, she is already brimming with eggs, you can see some sticking out from under her feathers, lol. Egg hoarder, I guess.