I had 6 Serama eggs under a cochin hen. I candled them and everything looked good. They were supposed to hatch yesterday. Today one chick was about halfway hatched, but it was shrink wrapped tight. I pulled the membrane off and the chick was barely alive. It died a short time later. Another egg had pipped with a tiny hole. I opened the egg and the chick was dead. The other 4 were dead in the shell. If these had been in an incubator I would think that maybe the humidity was too low, but these were under a hen. It has been raining a lot here and North Carolina is a humid place most of the time. Last week I hatched 11 silkie chicks under a hen with no problems, and I had 5 of 5 turkeys hatch today. Four weeks ago I had a successful Serama hatch, so what could have happened with the latest batch?
Sounds to me like you were to involved. Broody hens should be left alone to do what they gotta do. To much poking about can stress the hen and she's likely to get upset. Maybe stay off the eggs to long. Sorry for your loss. Rancher
