mother hen abandoned eggs that are chirping (4 hatched and 7 eggs are left and very alive and chirpi

[ERICKA1546]

Hello! We have 4 new chicks and eggs still left but mother hen doesn't want anything to to with the rest of the eggs. I did the water test and they are rocking and rollin and i even heard loud chirps coming from them. there were no pips hence the reason i did the water test. what should i do. we live in the CA valley so its very warm here usually in the 100's. should i just let nature do its thing or intervene? Thank You =)

 

[centrarchid]

Age of eldest chicks hatched? Weight of hen extremely poor?

Hen can stay in nest so long before she or eldest chicks exhaust reserves. Hen in poor condition even less able to "sit it out".

 

[KendyF]

Hello! We have 4 new chicks and eggs still left but mother hen doesn't want anything to to with the rest of the eggs. I did the water test and they are rocking and rollin and i even heard loud chirps coming from them. there were no pips hence the reason i did the water test. what should i do. we live in the CA valley so its very warm here usually in the 100's. should i just let nature do its thing or intervene? Thank You =)

In a similar situation, I took the other eggs, let them hatch and then put the chicks under the mom, with her other chicks, she took them just fine. I wasn't clear if the mom is doing well with the other chicks?

 

[ERICKA1546]

@Centrarchid im not sure exactly when the eldest chick hatched my chickens free range and this whole thing was a surprise i first noticed an empty egg shell Monday afternoon. We are new to the chicken game so we were not sure if the egg hatched or just broke. yesterday afternoon is when i realized that the eggs had hatched. we moved the whole family including the unhatched to a "maternity ward" with space to scratch and stuff. there is plenty of shade water and food. mother hen looks to be in pretty good health / weight

 

[ERICKA1546]

@KendyF mother hen is doing great with the chicks and is so super protective now that the sun is going down she is back on the eggs. hopefully she stays there =)

 

[causeidm]

Shade and fresh water, they'll be fine.