3 Eggs Dead & I dont Know Why..

[mrszlopez]

Not sure if this topic has been posted already - if so direct me..
But I have a few broody Silkies who have hatched about 8 chicks successfully. Recently, a few here & there have been coming out of the brooding stage & weve got only two Mommas left sitting. In the past week, I have found three eggs with fully formed babies dead inside. I know that the hatch rate is not always 100%, but theyve hatched with no issues so far up until this week. One of the eggs was pretty rotten & the baby inside's beak was deformed. The other had no obvious problems & seemed like it had just died. The other had a barely living baby inside & the whole side of the shell was smashed in. After noticing a large whole in the membrane, we decided to open it - figuring the baby wouldve died either way. The chick took one breath & passed as soon as we opened it. All of these chicks looked like they had no more than a week left to hatch. Whats the deal with this ?? Is this a normal thing ? Or should I invest in an incubator ?

 

[walkswithdog]

That stuff from broodies is why I bought my first incubator. Of course now and then a broody has been useful when the power went out.

You are over time just going to get some chicks that have something wrong that don't go or die, or hatch and need to be put down.

Others sometimes broodies just abandon. Look at the size of their heads. Some of the time that pea brain is just going to misfire. Having an incubator means you can continue to incubate and try and see if it was just a brain fart, or there was a reason the egg didn't seem right to the hen. It can be either.

 

[DANNY]

That can be a result of hens sharing nests if yours were.

 

[mrszlopez]

yes they were sharing nests. they would always flip flop between different nests. What would it be from ? would it be from them going back & forth ? I think i may invest in an incubator just so i can keep a better eye on things.

 

[DANNY]

It's more from leaving eggs uncovered and 2 or more hens getting on the same nest.

 

[mrszlopez]

Quote:
ohh okay. thank you !

 

[walkswithdog]

I have a LOT of co-broodies. Two hens and the same egg set and I don't lose a lot at all. Most of my co-broodies work things out and support one another, usually a more dominant hen with a less dominant hen.

I just had two hatch 20 of 22 eggs, one was infertile or quit early, one quit the last week.

Depends on the situation and whether it's a wrestling match or an actual cooperation. Penelope protected the less assertive Caladan and her eggs from the on lookers and curious juvenille birds.