Urgent: possible abandonment of squabs

[DotTheHen]

Hello. Long story made short, one of my hens turned out to be a male. Mated and they layed two eggs, I let her sit on them thinking they were infertile. I candled them out of curiosity and saw development. Her nest was on the ground, and this morning the babies hatched. I mounted a box to the wall of the aviary, then put the babies in there, so that snakes wouldn’t get them on the ground. The parents have inspected the box and gone inside, but haven’t sat back down on them. Is this normal? Have they abandoned them? Is there anything I can do?

The babies seem healthy, and they’re moving around and such.

 

[All4Eggz]

Hello. Long story made short, one of my hens turned out to be a male. Mated and they layed two eggs, I let her sit on them thinking they were infertile. I candled them out of curiosity and saw development. Her nest was on the ground, and this morning the babies hatched. I mounted a box to the wall of the aviary, then put the babies in there, so that snakes wouldn’t get them on the ground. The parents have inspected the box and gone inside, but haven’t sat back down on them. Is this normal? Have they abandoned them? Is there anything I can do?

The babies seem healthy, and they’re moving around and such.

They need heat. Get them a heat lamp in a brooder if she 100% abandoned them

 

[biophiliac]

Hello. Long story made short, one of my hens turned out to be a male. Mated and they layed two eggs, I let her sit on them thinking they were infertile. I candled them out of curiosity and saw development. Her nest was on the ground, and this morning the babies hatched. I mounted a box to the wall of the aviary, then put the babies in there, so that snakes wouldn’t get them on the ground. The parents have inspected the box and gone inside, but haven’t sat back down on them. Is this normal? Have they abandoned them? Is there anything I can do?

The babies seem healthy, and they’re moving around and such.

If snakes are a certainty then perhaps cage the parents with the babies' nest somewhere safe.

If snakes are only a small risk, then maybe I'd risk returning the nest to where the parents had it for at least a few days til the parents establish a pattern.

 

[DotTheHen]

Thank you both, parents ended up going back. They’re sitting and feeding them now!