I don't really like forcing a baby to eat since a struggling chick increases the risk of aspiration. By this time she knows what the formula is, so my suggestion would be to shove a spoonful of warm formula into her beak when she's loudly begging the parents for food. She might be more willing to eat that way if she's really hungry. Or stick a piece of millet spray in front of her beak.

It's OK to remove the nest and eggs all at once and put the hen in with the chicks. Maybe she'll feed the chicks who beg for it. But before you take the nest down, candle the eggs to make sure that they're duds. There's info on candling at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... dling.html

SOS! the birds are mating again!!! The eggs are still there in the nestbox. What should I do??? We want a break.

They've given up on the eggs and want to start a new clutch. Take the nestbox down and use hormone control techniques. There's info on that at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... mones.html It will probably be fairly easy to stop them at this point.

well, they are on the eggs still, sometimes both of them. I think , what if somebody hatches at the last moment?
If they started laying eggs on Nov 12th (in the evening, so basically close to 13th) and they laid 6 eggs every other day, when would be cut off for eggs to hatch? I counted it would be end of this week (Sunday), correct?

The newest egg would probably have hatched by now, although weather conditions can delay hatching for a few days. If they're mating again, it's a pretty clear sign that they've given up on these eggs. If these were my birds, I'd put the parents in a different cage and candle the eggs while the parents are safely out of the way. If the eggs have a yellow glow they are infertile/undeveloped eggs. If they are dark and opaque inside, they're filled up with an embryo. In the last stages of development it can be hard for an inexperienced person to tell the difference between a dead egg and one that's viable and about to hatch. But if you see a nice yellow glow throughout the egg when you candle it, there's no doubt that it hasn't developed, and you can safely take down the nest and get rid of the eggs. If you think the eggs might be viable, let the parents back inside the breeding cage to continue doing their duty.

So do I wash my hands, take eggs out, go to dark room and shine a penlight thru each egg? Last time I candled I saw absolutely nothing

Yes, that's the best way to do it. If the eggs have a yellow glow they are infertile.

Yesterday we went to the theater and came home really late so they were not sleeping until late. I don't want to keep all of them in the dark til noon because chicks don't deserve it and they are getting hungry.
Also I don't want to reduce their food abundance, as they are growing and need to eat well. Birds are kept all together.
So we are a bit behind on hormone control. If they are mating, would she be able not to produce eggs if we change conditions (no nestbox, different cage, more dark time)? people aren't able not to get pregnant if they had sex and did nothing about birth control. Are birds different? can they manipulate egg producing?

Some hens will not lay eggs unless they have a nest. Others will lay eggs whether they have a nest or not. I can't predict which kind of hen your mama bird is.

she started with laying her first egg inside rolled poster on the bookcase when we thought she was a boy.

Gave up or not, but I didn't have a chance to check the eggs today - they were in the box all day except for short time in the morning when I was busy to do it