When do I take unhatched eggs from hen?

[jenniferbtheberge13]

So, my silkie is a dedicated broody mother and had 10 developing eggs under her. At one point she had 11, put on day 20 I discovered that an egg had been crushed and a chick was dead, buried under the bedding. The only reason I knew it was there was b/c of the smell. Anyway, that means that gross stuff got all over most of the eggs. As I said, this was day 20 so I was hesitant to scrub eggs or otherwise mess with them and decided to let nature take its course. But I did have to move the eggs and change the bedding in the nest. This is also my first broody hen hatch. 5 of the 10 eggs have hatched. I am on day 24 and there are still 5 eggs under her. Most of them are thick shelled green eggs and almost impossible to candle.
The hen and her nest are in a large dog crate with food and water, inside the hen house. She is very devoted to her unhatched eggs and is eating and drinking with the hatched chicks, but doesn't really leave the eggs. I have another area that she and her chicks will move to once all are hatched.
When do I take the eggs away? Is there a way to check for viability w/o candling?.

 

[bobbi-j]

How long ago did the five hatch? Were all the eggs set at one time? Generally - if all the eggs are started at the same time under a broody, all the eggs that are going to hatch will do so within 24 hours. If they hatched more than two days ago, I'd get those eggs out of the nest and move the mama and babies.