Removing eggs and adding chicks? Help!

[gander111]

So I had 1 out of 12 eggs hatch under my broody hen, she's a great mama. The chick is 3 days old now and she is still setting on eggs and not coming out much with baby..is this normal? I ordered some chicks in hopes to place them with her at night. Should I let her stay on the eggs until my chicks arrive or just raise them separately and remove the eggs? The chicks wont arrive until
Sept 5th. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

[sumi]

She probably won't except the chicks that long after hatching her single baby. Sorry! If you could get chicks now you could remove the eggs from under her while she's sleeping and replace them with chicks, but by September she'll be wise and will probably reject them.

 

[gander111]

So, should I remove the eggs from under her?

 

[sumi]

You can check the remaining eggs for signs of life and if you are 100% sure they are not going to hatch you can remove them so she can walk around with her chick. Here's how you check:

Float Testing, Checking Egg Viability For Late Or Overdue Hatching

 

[gander111]

Thank you so much! I'll try.

 

[gander111]

So, I had some partial floaters and one sinker that was a real stinker! LOL! I guess I'll wait a couple of more days. I sure hope she does'nt crack one..phew!