Mama left the nest. Please help!

[Charlie1147]

Hello, i would love some advice about a mama hen who left the nest!

We had a hen go broody a little late in the season and pretty early in life. She was sitting on them wonderfully and even hatched one last night. Today though she's left the nest to tend to the baby chick and has left all the other eggs behind. We didn't notice right away and then kept watch for a little to make sure she wasn't going back to them. I candled them and they all are very dark with an airsack at the base except for a few that I think the other hens snuck in there later. When I noticed the eggs were getting cold I put a heat lamp on them to keep them warm with some wet paper towels, but I've never done this before and I think I got them too warm. I have since adjusted the lamp and the eggs position and i think theyre closer to the right temp now. Anyway I'm worried and was wondering if there was anything else I could do to help them or check them.

Thank you!

 

[BDutch]

Can you get hold of an incubator from someone who lives nearby or is there a shop where they sell them nearby?

 

[redinator]

Hello, i would love some advice about a mama hen who left the nest!

We had a hen go broody a little late in the season and pretty early in life. She was sitting on them wonderfully and even hatched one last night. Today though she's left the nest to tend to the baby chick and has left all the other eggs behind. We didn't notice right away and then kept watch for a little to make sure she wasn't going back to them. I candled them and they all are very dark with an airsack at the base except for a few that I think the other hens snuck in there later. When I noticed the eggs were getting cold I put a heat lamp on them to keep them warm with some wet paper towels, but I've never done this before and I think I got them too warm. I have since adjusted the lamp and the eggs position and i think theyre closer to the right temp now. Anyway I'm worried and was wondering if there was anything else I could do to help them or check them.

Thank you!

Since the other chick hatched they're probably really close to hatching too, so rotating isn't as crucial at this late stage. I've seen some great threads on homemade incubators, I'll see if I can link a few.

 

[redinator]

This one seems fairly simple:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-build-a-homemade-incubator-griffin-nest.67061/