Unfortunately I did not date the eggs under the hen, so I don't know how old the unhatched ones are. I'll know better next time! The hen and chick are both eating fine -- the hen has made the effort to show the chick "oh, look, here's something really really good" and wait for the chick to show that it knows to eat. And they have their own water in their crate, too. So I'm not really concerned about nourishment. The other hens seem fascinated by the "peep peeping" -- they even hesitated to go outside this morning when I opened their yard door! (But then they decided to go outside anyway!) I'm hoping that having the hen and chick behind the crate door for a while will make them safer when I let them out into the general population. Thanks for the help! --Johanna

Wow there is a lot to consider in this.... I hope you did not crack any of the eggs yet, lol....that can be really bad!! First if they are all her eggs, there is no way that all of them could even be viable since it would take her at the very least 25 days to lay 25 eggs... not likely, lol.... since it only takes 21 days to incubate them. In the time it took her to lay a clutch, the first eggs were aging and by now could be quite undesirable, lol... you could easily use a flash light and a TP tube to candle a few.... lots of images on line to show you what to look for.... And you said, she had been gone for weeks? Once again, only 21 days needed for hatching, so three weeks tops and the job is done.... all in all it is probably best that you chased her off the nest so that you can gather and dispose of them before they go popping and bursting from inner pressure......that odor will kill ya, lol..... try candling all the eggs.... take a peek here.....http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html or http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8134.pdf.........good luck

Yes, that's exactly what they do here, and I'm surprised that not more people mention this happening at their place too. Surely you and I are not the only ones that have GSTs do this. It's just like you describe, they keep turning their heads like they're looking around for food, but even if I put them back on it, they crawl right off again. I've given up on trying to get them to eat. Last year I kept putting them back on their food and I had a lot of them die. So then I thought this year maybe if I don't interfere that they would turn out to be just fine. Nope! They still died. As a matter of fact, I had some die off the plant AND even on the plant (well, cutting actually). I have no idea what's going on with that. It just baffles me! Good luck with your cats and finding food for them. I really hope that someone can help you out. I'd hate to see them starve, but in nature I'm sure it probably happens a lot. So you don't have any friends or relatives who might have a GST host plant? Just a thought. Cathy

This happened to me last year. My husband actually removed two eggs when there was a live baby inside. He slept through the entire thing. He took a piece of heavy cardboard and carefully slid the nest on to it. Then, using a spoon that was bent (like what you would use to dip easter eggs) he carefully lifted out both eggs and handed them to me. Then he slid the nest back into the box. The two eggs hadn't developed (it was during a really hot spell and they were almost like boiled eggs). Removing them gave the surviving baby more room in the nest and he really seemed to appreciate that. He fledged a week later. Good luck. tara/fairychick