Emergency Incubation/Hatching methods? HELP!

[VioletBlueIvy]

My mom has a silkie hen that went broody, long story short it is day 23 and when she checked on her today found that the hen is eating the hatching chicks. So, she pulled out the remaining 9 eggs and put them under a heat lamp with a damp towel, she can hear them peeping. Someone here must have had this happen and can offer some tips? My mom has had a rough time, her neigbors dogs broke into her coop last week and killed one of her hens, severely injured two others and her beloved silkie rooster, Cosmo, was gone. By the looks of things, he put up one heck of a fight and saved most his girls. Later that day my father, who lives a few hundred yards through the woods called because he saw the dogs come out of the woods - one had Cosmo in his mouth... anyway, he is the father of these eggs and she really wants them to hatch, but is kinda winging it here, she hasn't hatched eggs before and this is obviously not ideal circumstances to be first timing it! Any advice would be welcome. Thanks

 

[Ceinwyn]

I flew across country to pick up a day old parrot chick using a small cooler and a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel once.
It kept humidity and temperature pretty good considering.
Any chance she has a camping cooler and a hotwater bottle?
Usually easier to find around the house than a quick incubator.
Even a cardboard box with a heat lamp can be used in an emergency.
Keep a mason jar of hot water inside the box and cover the box partially to maintain a temperature of about 99 degrees.
Saran wrap can help keep moisture in.
Adding a few cloths warmed to 100 degrees in a corner will increase the humidity pretty fast.
I hope everything works out for your Mom.
So sorry this happened.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

Thank you for your response Ceinwyn, Thats pretty much what she did, but with a potato basket, with the light clipped on the handle. She is putting in wet paper towels to keep up the humidity, she is afraid to use the mason jar and have a drowning. It is raining today anyway and the humidity in the house is 55 already so it should be fine. The temp has stayed between 98 and 100 right along. This morning she has one pip! So we are hoping it is going to work!

 

[blkwdw]

we'll be pulling for her, keep us posted!!

 

[HHandbasket]

We did not have THAT many eggs, but we had two earlier this week that were left in the nest when the hen got off to tend to the 6 chicks which had already hatched. I put the pipped egg in my bra, and then when I went to cook dinner, my husband put it under his shirt on his warm belly and hatched it about an hour later.

If they are really close to hatching & you have body heat and are in a moist or even kinda humid environment... hatch 'em in your clothes, next to you. Or perhaps someone in your area has a fired-up incubator you can use.

Self-hatching in a pinch works, though.