setting on 3 gift eggs, prayers please

Mrs. K :

I think you might have a bit of a wreck. And nothing might hatch. However it is not too late to fix it.

The thing is that with too many eggs, they do not all get consistent heat, as they get moved around. They get too cold and die. The other thing is the egg begins to develop when placed under the mother hen. Later placed eggs, develop much later, and at the end, the hen will leave the nest after about 24 hours of the first egg hatching. those later eggs will die.

I would start over, she sounds like a great hen that really wants to be a mom, and as stated, there is nothing as much fun as watching this process, and after you have a hen raise chicks, you will never go back!
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I would collect some fertilized eggs, mark them with a pencil, so you know which eggs they are. If she is a standard hen, she should be able to cover well 10-12 eggs, and if you check the hatching forum, you can figure on about a 50% hatch. Then at night in the dark, I would slip her off the nest, remove all of those eggs, place your marked eggs under her, and return her to the nest, and mark the calendar for 21 days.

You can either, block off her nest so that other hens can't get into it, or move her to a separate place, but then you will have reintroduction issues. I left mine with the flock this summer, and it worked well. My nest is so small, two hens cannot fit into it. You need to check, and make sure only the marked eggs are under her (if she will let you, mine would remove your hand at the elbow if you tried to get into her nest)
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I really think it would be better if you started over. The eggs need to start all together. Sometimes you will have a hen hide a nest, and everyday, she will slip off to lay in a hidden spot. Those eggs just sit there, and do not start to develop, then one day she will decide that there is enough eggs in the nest, and begin to set on the nest, only getting off once or so a day. Many chicken people have thought that they lost a hen, only to have her bring her chicks out 3 weeks later.

MrsK

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Thank you, Mrs K and D'Angelo, that is good advice. Sounds right.

Took a strange turn today, we discovered a severe infestation of mites. So she was off her eggs for around 2 hours while we bathed and blowdried her and washed out the coop, burned away her basket in a bonfire and dusted the eggs before putting her back on them in a newly dusted new plastic bin with new (and dusted) pine shavings.

If a live chick comes out of this, we will call her Little Miss Miracle.

Now I wonder, if Chloe was broody, or just anemic from mites? I read today that a chicken could get anemic and even die 3 days into mite infestation!

She really loved her bath and blow dry. She always loved that. Followed by a snack of 'mushies' (chicken food mixed with warm water and fed with a pretty spoon).

Later, Miss Rosie stole all the eggs and is brooding all over them, talking to them. So maybe some of the eggs are alive and talking.

Yes, Miss Rosie was checked for mites too, and dusted too. But Miss Rosie showed no infestation around the vent or belly or anything. However, Chloe's was severe.
I think we'll give the eggs until next Saturday to start hatching.
 
This year, it seems like everyone is having an extra hard time with mites, fleas, ticks, and flies.....Good Luck.
 
I plan on calling the vet, too, to recheck for worms/ stool culture and fungal smear. If they've got mites, its really time to recheck! Isn't entymology fun? Lets see what we can find and then eliminate it!
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Besides, I want to be able to prove there's no Salmonella in my yard! In March we had a clean culture. But then the Salmonella outbreak happened last week, I don't want any stinkeyes aimed at my yard.
 
Now Miss Rosie has completely taken over the task of setting on the eggs. But she tolerates Chloe at her side. Perhaps Chloe is the nanny. We'll see how this works out.
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Both birds are still checking clean, no more mites, that we can see.

Wednesday will be the 21st day for that first egg.
 
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First chick hatched! When sons come home from school will try to post a pic. Looks like a Silkie baby! Very sociable, very cute, very fluffy, black legs/black nose/black eyes, fluffy grey-blue and teensy tiny!

If we get 9 to hatch, we're naming them for the planets. Which planet comes first? Then again, wasn't Pluto the farthest out, and tiny?
 
Here's 8th grader's video of Chloe with her new chicks. 8th grade boys are Wonderful Tech Support for households, he even made me a YouTube account. Chloe's greatest wish has been answered with TWO SILKIE CHICKS! See their fuzzy little feet? The oldest is even feathering out in fluff, like Chloe's. Miss Rosie and Chloe are sharing baby duty! This has worked out GREAT for Miss Rosie, who loves to snuggle up with the chicks into Chloe's fluff, and Chloe is a very, very good mother. Thank you for prayers.

 
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Several it IS
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!! Today the 6th chick has hatched! It is a GORGEOUS long haired Silkie with the most elegant fancy toes! Chloe is an excellent momma! Thanks for your good wishes! So far, we have named the chicks Baby, Aphrodite, the twins Dark and Darker, Little Maria Tallchief and now this new one, maybe named Daniel or Danielle (for our little cousin from Chicago who came to patiently watch the chick hatch, alllll daaaayyyy......)
 
Yesterday the newest chick, named "7 of 9" hatched, she is the prettiest ever. Other than "Aphrodite" the 2nd chick. Little Maria Tallchief is still little and fluffy, and when she runs her little wingies point up, soooo cute!
 

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