Hen is laying eggs with hatchlings in the nest

[Themcleodflock]

There are 2 very young hatchlings in the nest (oldest is two days old) but the hen started laying again yesterday, there are now two eggs in nest. Should I remove the eggs and hope that the parents raise the babies? If I remove the eggs will she carry on laying? Does her laying again mean that they won't feed the hatchlings?

[MariusStegmann]

Personally, I would remove the eggs. If you leave them, and they hatch, the chicks would just die, because the older chicks would still be in the nest and would be getting all the food. Is there not perhaps another hen that is laying the eggs?

[Themcleodflock]

I moved her and her mate to a separate cage when started nest building so it's only her laying the eggs. I have removed the two eggs, hopefully they will get the hang of parenting

[MiaCarter]

Ooh, that's curious.

I think you did the right thing.
The timing just wouldn't work out. The other babies would be still in the nest or just fledging, so the new babies would have died. They would have been trampled by the first clutch and/or there wouldn't be enough food to go around, since the parents would be tending to the juveniles who require lots of food!

I hope your mama gets the hang of this parenting thing!
Are they feeding the little ones, can you tell?
Did you get a look at them?
If they're 2 days old, they would be starting to get dehydrated by the end of the 2 day mark. Their skin would look redder, dry and wrinkly, especially around the neck.
If they're not getting fed, they succumb by the third day.

If she's feeding, I wouldn't be too worried. I'd just pull any other eggs.

If might save the eggs if you would be compelled to let her try again in the event this clutch doesn't work out.

You can keep them for upwards of a week before you need to start incubating. (Though don't put them in the refrigerator, because the temperatures can be sufficiently cold to kill the fertilized blastoderm. Just leave them at room temperature in a cool area, away from sun, heat, etc.)

Is she a really young hen?
If so, I might let her age up a bit if this clutch doesn't work out.

Hopefully she'll feed and the eggs were just a fluke. My guess would be that it's a misdirected parenting instinct.
Sort of "I have an instinct to do parenting-type things....But I'm not sure what to do exactly. Maybe laying eggs will fulfill those parenting urges?"
I'm thinking maybe she has misdirected parenting instincts, so she laid eggs instead of feeding the babies.

[Themcleodflock]

I think she is a young hen, not sure though as the shop didn't give an exact age. I think the father at least is feeding the babies, one of them has a fairly full looking crop (I think) it's hard to see into the nest and there is normally at least one of them on the nest. I'll see if I can get a good look at their skin later to see if either are dehydrated.

[Themcleodflock]

Their skin is dark greyish pink, they are growing and I have seen the father feed both chicks. The hen is still laying eggs, I'll remove them from the nest every few days to reduce the disruption to the chicks.

[Themcleodflock]

Dad bird is definitely feeding the baby birds who are growing quickly. Mummy bird is still laying eggs -.- 5th egg today, I'm pulling them out every 2 days to try to reduce the disruption to their routine.