How long can a hen leave eggs

[junior67]

Well today was possibly day 21 but no sign of chicks. Mama is sitting pretty and growling at me. I’m thinking there will be an arrival during the night.
I had settled on a plan to go first thing in the morning to pick up a brooding lamp. I have my tote and I’d cover it with hardware cloth. Or netting. I have both on hand. I had figured that by the time I get back and finish the set up a chick or two could be hatched and hopefully dried off. I can steal them for a couple of days till the rest are hatched, then sneak them back under mom in the dead of night.
Yeah. Right. Ever hear the saying “When it rains it pours”?
Yes. Actual rain. It is going to begin to rain here at 2am. It is going to rain all day long tomorrow. You say “ so what”?
Well…when the first drop hits the ground here on my mountain the power goes out. It’s crazy! If I move babies and power goes out mama has the best chance of keeping babies warm. There might be a slim chance Rosie will sit out the rest of the latecomer incubation but I might be losing them.
At this point I’m giving this to God. He’ll let Rosie know what to do. And if in the end I can borrow an incubator (and power is on), well that would be a miracle anyway.

The mom will sit for a couple of days after the first chick hatches

 

[Cryss]

The mom will sit for a couple of days after the first chick hatches

Yes. I’ll try to provide feed and water next to her in hopes she’ll stay long enough for this staggered hatch to finish.

 

[junior67]

Yes. I’ll try to provide feed and water next to her in hopes she’ll stay long enough for this staggered hatch to finish.

It is so hard! I always feel bad since they don't leave for a couple days so put food in with them and water close. Then mine will stay in the coop with the babies for another few days so have food and water in there for them.

 

[Cryss]

I didn’t see anything at 7:30am but thought I heard a single peep. At noon I found this.

I don’t see any more hatchlings just yet but mama is hiding things. I think having babies coming out underneath her is making it more difficult for her to cover all of the eggs because this is what I found just now.

And so the saga begins. I’m not going to search today. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. I’ll be giving her food and water next to her then. I don’t want to disturb her just yet.

 

[Cryss]

Day 3, 3 chicks. Hopefully praying for more.

 

[Cryss]

We started with 10 eggs, one wasn’t fertile and was removed leaving 9.
One chick hatched every day over the first 3 days. So 3 live chicks.

Mama abandoned 3 eggs that I removed. 2 were early quitters. Unfortunately one was still alive and had to be culled as mama had completely abandoned it and I have no access to an incubator.

Yesterday we found one dead yellow chick. It appeared to have hatched well and started to dry off but perhaps was just too weak.

Today we have this.