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SANDPOINT, Idaho (CNN) -- A county prosecutor said a house where five children staged a standoff with police last week was covered with animal feces and trash and contained five weapons. He rejected their mother's demand that a child neglect charge against her be dropped.

"Not a chance," said prosecutor Phil Robinson.

Describing the house conditions as "abominable," he said dog feces covered the basement of the house and was matted into clothing on the bedroom floor. There was food rotting in some sinks. He said authorities are investigating whether the children were malnourished.

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"I wouldn't put my dog in that house," he said, emerging from the Bonner County Courthouse where a closed-door shelter hearing to determine where the children will live for the immediate future was continued until Monday.

The children -- who range in age from 8 to 16 -- have been in state custody since the standoff ended peacefully Saturday.

The hearing was continued, Robinson said, because more information is needed. He did not elaborate.

Robinson said the children will "go to a foster home whenever they later leave the hospital setting." A spokeswoman for Bonner General Hospital said the five children who remain there are in good condition.

The standoff began last week after police arrested their mother, Joann McGuckin, 46. She is charged with felonious neglect for failing to provide her family with food or electric power. The children's father, Michael McGuckin, died May 12. His death was attributed to dehydration and malnutrition, complicated by multiple sclerosis.

Five of the six children held police at bay using a pack of vicious dogs. Police also feared the youngsters were armed. A sixth child, Benjamin, 15, walked to a neighbor's house Friday and was taken into custody. He has been placed in foster care.

The other children are Kathryn, 16; Mary, 13; James, 11; Frederick, 9; and Jane, 8. They feared authorities would split up the family but they have been assured they will be able to stay together, The Associated Press reported.

Robinson said authorities recovered five guns and ammunition from the house Monday; the search of the property continued Tuesday. Some of the dogs were taken to an animal shelter Monday and more would be rounded up Tuesday, he said.

The mother did not attend Tuesday's aborted hearing and her attorney cited her health as a reason.

McGuckin has refused to sign a bail agreement and leave jail despite a judge's order Monday to release her on her own recognizance. She faces a felony charge of child neglect, which she disputes.

McGuckin's lawyer, Bryce Powell, told the judge Monday that his client would not accept the conditions, the AP reported.

"My client demands dismissal of the charges and child protection proceedings and an apology," Powell said. "She will not leave the jail at this time."

McGuckin is scheduled to appear in court June 13 for a hearing on the child neglect charge.

The McGuckins lost their home to a county tax sale last September, the AP reported. The current owner has asked authorities to keep the family out, Robinson said.

The AP reported that animal control officers on Monday managed to capture four of the released dogs. One officer was bitten in the leg by one of the dogs, which were taken to an animal shelter. The Humane Society will care for the animals and they will not be destroyed, authorities said.