Ok- this is our first set of eggs being hatched here on the ranch. I have no idea what I'm doing but everything seems to have been going ok up until today.
We have RIR hens, one which decided to sit on the eggs finally
I noticed it on the 3rd of July. I coaxed her out with cherry tomatoes to see how many eggs she was sitting on- turns out she was sitting on only one egg. Over the next few days she gathered all the eggs she could find- a total of 11 counting the original one. She was done gathering by the 5th. i'm pretty sure she was not sitting on them before the 3rd.
I was not expecting our first chick until this weekend or so.
Yesterday I cam home and she had one little chick! (YAY!) She is sooooo cute. Momma hen kept sitting on her eggs- and all was good.
Today I come home and one chick was obviously hatched and dead. Looks like it was not fully developed. Another chick was still alive, underdeveloped fullyo ut of the shell but had what looked like the rest of the yolk sac attached to it. It died not long after I found it. I didn't touch it- I didn't try to help it and maybe I should have but I thought it was normal. now i wich I had done something.
I don't understand why the it hatched early unless maybe momma interfered (?) or another cihcken did. (total count is 8 hens the same age as momma hen, 85 that are about 9 weeks old) The 9 weekers don't go up where momma is sitting eggs and neither do the other older hens.... so I don't really think that it's them.
Our roo is on temporary confinement untill the 9 weekers get a little older so I know it's not him.
I'm guessing that the one chick that is out and healthy already is the original egg she was sitting on. I don't understand what is causing the others to hatch early and underdeveloped. Any one have any suggestions? I suspect that the remaining eggs are between 18 and 19 days old.
I'm so worried about my little eggs
We have RIR hens, one which decided to sit on the eggs finally
I noticed it on the 3rd of July. I coaxed her out with cherry tomatoes to see how many eggs she was sitting on- turns out she was sitting on only one egg. Over the next few days she gathered all the eggs she could find- a total of 11 counting the original one. She was done gathering by the 5th. i'm pretty sure she was not sitting on them before the 3rd.I was not expecting our first chick until this weekend or so.
Yesterday I cam home and she had one little chick! (YAY!) She is sooooo cute. Momma hen kept sitting on her eggs- and all was good.
Today I come home and one chick was obviously hatched and dead. Looks like it was not fully developed. Another chick was still alive, underdeveloped fullyo ut of the shell but had what looked like the rest of the yolk sac attached to it. It died not long after I found it. I didn't touch it- I didn't try to help it and maybe I should have but I thought it was normal. now i wich I had done something.
I don't understand why the it hatched early unless maybe momma interfered (?) or another cihcken did. (total count is 8 hens the same age as momma hen, 85 that are about 9 weeks old) The 9 weekers don't go up where momma is sitting eggs and neither do the other older hens.... so I don't really think that it's them.
Our roo is on temporary confinement untill the 9 weekers get a little older so I know it's not him.
I'm guessing that the one chick that is out and healthy already is the original egg she was sitting on. I don't understand what is causing the others to hatch early and underdeveloped. Any one have any suggestions? I suspect that the remaining eggs are between 18 and 19 days old.
I'm so worried about my little eggs
