Not hatching fully! Help me decide what to do!

[BigTreeFarm]

We had a hen go broody and had 8 eggs under her. 2 were pipping yesterday and this one pipped last night. I woke up to one dead out of its shell and the other one was cracked and crushed. I thought it was dead and so when I went to clean it out, I gave it another tap and it peeped at me. Brought it inside, helped it hatch, but then it died about a half hour later.

So now I've got this one, and it isn't unzipping, but just making a hole. I took all her eggs away from her and made a makeshift brooder in my castiron pot because she's obviously not very good at this whole thing (I was surprised when she went broody as she's on the lower end of the pecking order) and she was very blasé about the whole thing. She'd get off the eggs anytime another chicken came by.
Should I be helping this chick at all, or just let nature take it's course? It's already looking dry-ish and I'm afraid it's going to die. I know it's part of farm life, but this is only my 2nd time with a broody hen, and my 4th time hatching eggs.

I see another starting to pip and when I had candled them all earlier, they all look like there's life in them.

 

[lavendermarie]

I’m not sure if you’ve already decided on what you’re doing or not, but if I were in your situation, I think I’d try and help it out. But I am a softie when it comes to these kinds of things, so, ultimately you should do what you think is going to be best.

 

[BastyPutt]

Im sure what's done is done at this point - but after a very traumatic experience, I dont ever help the chicks out of the eggs anymore, and accept the fate. Its one thing for them to fail on their own, but a-complete-nother if you are the cause of the failure. To each their own.

As for the mama hens, yes - sometimes you get the deadbeats. But they all seem to act much differently at hatching time and it seems like she did pretty good up until this point, aside from the dead one.

If there is still some to hatch, you do need to make sure that somehow you are keeping the membrane moist - which is the point of extra high humidity on the days prior and of hatch.

I am very curious to know if this one with the hole made it, or any of them for that matter.

 

[BigTreeFarm]

Im sure what's done is done at this point - but after a very traumatic experience, I dont ever help the chicks out of the eggs anymore, and accept the fate. Its one thing for them to fail on their own, but a-complete-nother if you are the cause of the failure. To each their own.

As for the mama hens, yes - sometimes you get the deadbeats. But they all seem to act much differently at hatching time and it seems like she did pretty good up until this point, aside from the dead one.

If there is still some to hatch, you do need to make sure that somehow you are keeping the membrane moist - which is the point of extra high humidity on the days prior and of hatch.

I am very curious to know if this one with the hole made it, or any of them for that matter.

Update: this chick survived and is doing great!
I just helped another one after viewing the egg and seeing the same issue of the membrane stuck and dry to it. It doesn't look like it will survive at this point. Trying not to get my hopes up because 'farm life'. I try not to be like the little girl from Charlotte's Web when her dad is gonna kill Wilbur.

There's at least one more I can hear chirping and see moving around so I won't be surprised if I get one more tomorrow. Don't have a great way to add humidity, so I'll use coconut oil when I can.

 

[BastyPutt]

Do you have a heat lamp? You can wet a sponge, put it in your pot and put a lamp near it maybe with some foil or something loosely covering the top? Totally spitballing, and could potentially be just as bad of advice as it is good.