It’s likely that she’s abandoned the nest site for one a little more private, with less traffic. In all likelihood she’s been off the eggs too long by now to be able to save them. In order to rescue eggs, you would need to create an incubator to simulate the heat from the mother’s body. According to this, the incubation period is three weeks, and the chicks are ready to follow the mother into the water soon after birth. Even if you could hatch the eggs, it’s unlikely that you would be able to teach them the survival skills that they need.

It’s nature, just let happen whatever need to happen. I know it’s painful to see, because we don’t do the same things with each other what the animals do. But that’s why their life is wildlife, our’s is civilized one. Let’s don’t mix the two.

Yes, not much that you CAN do.

Birds will often re-nest and raise several broods per season if something happens to a clutch.

This is nature, the only thing that makes it sad it that you are witnessing it, if that makes sense. lol

This cycle has repeated itself since time immemorial, some survive, some don’t.

Bad for the Moorhen, good for the Heron.

Save your self some unnecessary pain. Stop checking on the nest. Natures rules apply whether we like it or not.

move those eggs to another nearest moorhen nest. Really,the mother won’t notice about this. You’re not the only species to do such thing,some kind of bird(ah,forgot what they called it) lay their eggs in another nest of bird from different species.

@Doctor_D I think you ment to say the bird called Cuckoo. That’s true that they lay their eggs to other birds nests, before they do that they push out all the other eggs from the previous owner. And their eggs looks like just the one what was pushed out by her. So the owner of the nest is only going to notice the whole egg swap thing, when the small cuckoos came out of their eggs… Tricky tricky

ohhh yay my babies are hatching….ohhh wait a min…what in the fuck…..cuckoos!? BLAST FOILED AGAIN!!!! DAMN YOU CUCKOO DAMN YOUUUUUUUU!!!! <shakes fist> :P

Brown Cowbirds do the same thing. I have seen house finches feeding giant Cowbird fledglings. lol

First of all….thank you for your answers and all your help!

I called the Wildlife Rescue and they told me the same thing…that nothing could be done because the eggs had been left and probably gotten cold. So, I did not go out again and took everyone’s advice here…too.

However, I kept good thoughts and my fingers crossed. This afternoon, I went again to feed the animals, but made sure to avoid the area where the nest was….and there was the moorhen back in the nest! I know she wasn’t there last night…so I have no idea when she came back. It’s possible that she had more eggs to lay, so perhaps some of them will hatch.

Once again…thank you for being out there…and being so helpful. Lurve coming….to all.

By the way…a year later…..she did come back….and I had the largest number of baby moorhens ever. Hooray! And thank you all!

Cool! Don’tcha just love to see nature thriving? :-D

I am having a record year of lizards and tree frogs. Every time I walk out my door at night tiny frogs go flying off the walls. haha