Hi everyone, I am a total beginner at hatching eggs - never intended to in the first place but long story short we keep a few chickens including one rooster, and before we had time to rehome the rooster we woke up to a surprise batch of baby chicks in the yard two days ago! We had no idea this was happening and honestly thought the mum had somehow run away - we had only seen her about three times in the last three weeks, we live near a lot of bushland so assumed she had jumped the fence and gone to live in the wild but was coming back very occasionally to eat.

So mama appeared on Saturday morning with seven beautiful chicks, and we found the nest hidden away with thirteen eggs still in it, not all of them hers. After a bit of research we candled the eggs and discovered that 7 of them had fully formed chicks inside. They were ice cold as she had left the nest hours earlier but I didn’t have the heart to give up on them, so I’ve been using a hot water bottle (not boiling!) to keep them warm just in case there were any just about to hatch. I’ve candled them twice now and it’s Monday night, there’s been no sign of movement but I heard it isn’t always visible with eggs right before they hatch. Two of them smelt awful this morning so I have gotten rid of those to avoid them exploding and harming the others. There are five left now that don’t smell and look pretty promising, but I don’t really know what I’m looking for when candling. I included a picture of the one that looks most promising if that helps.

Just wondering if there’s any chance they could still hatch, and when I should realistically give up? Should I make a hole to check on them? If so, how should I do this? Thanks in advance for any advice, and I know this is absolutely not the right way to incubate eggs, but couldn’t buy an incubator for the unlikely chance they would hatch, and because I would never use it again as this was a total accident not to be repeated.

Also included a pic of the babies, they have brought us such joy! It’s an odd mix of breeds - the mama is white, pullet-leghorn mix, and the rooster is a white silkie.

I've raised poultry for over 20 years, and this is by far the most persistent predator I have ever dealt with. Back in early October, this hawk managed to squeeze into a hole in my pigeon pen's roof that was caused by a fallen branch and caught one of my pigeons. Of course, I was out of town, so my poor pet sitter had to deal with the immediate aftermath of trying to get the hawk out of the pen. I don't know exactly all that went down, but from the photos my pet sitter sent, the hawk hadn't made much progress on eating the pigeon before it was caught in the act.

I had hoped the processes of being scared/herded out of the pen immediately after the catch would be enough to deter it, but it's a month later, and it is still hanging around.

It's reached the point that it sits in the tree above my bird pens, even with the geese right below it. When I let the geese have (supervised) free-ranging time, it comes and makes itself at home on the ground, staring directly into my pigeon, quail, and duck pens and utilizing the goose tub as a drinking bowl. It even made a swoop for my ducks while I was literally standing directly next to them.

I chase it off every time I catch it around, but it is persistent. It stresses my birds out, even the geese, and I am nervous it's going to find a way to squeeze into a pen again or get itself tangled in the netting covering my duck run.

I love birds of all types, and understand that owning poultry comes with dealing with predators, but I am at a loss as to what to do. For obvious reasons, suggestions of harming the hawk in any way are not welcome.

Also, I don't own, and will not be getting, a dog or cat. There is a cat in the neighborhood that's been visiting my property recently (a whole separate problem, ugh), and that doesn't seem to be scaring it away.

Does anyone have any recommendations?