Any way to tell why chick never pipped?

[VaultGirl27]

I had 4 eggs under my broody hen. All chicks were nearly a week late. One died in shell around day 25. The 2 bantam chicks hatched days 27 and 28. Last chick internally pipped sometime between day 26 and 27. Last night, on the evening of 28, I noticed the chick was no longer moving or peeping in the egg. Decided to make a safety hole to try and save the chick. This morning on day 29, I went out to check on mama and babies. The egg was cold and chick was dead in shell without ever having pipped. I took pictures, but I can't tell if it was positioned incorrectly. Can someone tell me what they think happened?

 

[sylviethecochin]

I'd suspect your broody of being a bad setter. What does the nest site look like?

The chick looks to have been properly positioned to me.

 

[VaultGirl27]

I'd suspect your broody of being a bad setter. What does the nest site look like?

The chick looks to have been properly positioned to me.

She was very dedicated and only got off once or twice a day for less than 5 minutes. She's in the enclosed part of the run. Her nest is in a tote made into a nesting box with pine shavings. The picture is of her with her 2 chicks that did hatch

 

[sylviethecochin]

She was very dedicated and only got off once or twice a day for less than 5 minutes. She's in the enclosed part of the run. Her nest is in a tote made into a nesting box with pine shavings. The picture is of her with her 2 chicks that did hatch

The tote sounds ideal. Was your weather very humid? Were the eggs fresh? Were the eggs from hens on a quality diet? (most layer feeds are not great for hatching chicks).

 

[VaultGirl27]

The tote sounds ideal. Was your weather very humid? Were the eggs fresh? Were the eggs from hens on a quality diet? (most layer feeds are not great for hatching chicks).

Weather was pretty humid first part of her setting, but relatively dry in the last half. Eggs were laid the day she started setting. All my chickens are on Nutrena Naturewise All Flock, plus they free range during the day. Both chicks that died late were from the same rooster and the 2 that made it are from my other rooster. Could my roo be genetically inferior for producing offspring? I don't know that much about hatching yet, but it seems logical to an inexperienced mind.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Could my roo be genetically inferior for producing offspring?

Genetic problems usually show as malformations or deaths, not as hatching delays. A double-dose of a homozygous lethal gene like tufted can cause a death right before hatch, but your chickens aren't tufted, and it still doesn't explain the delayed hatch. Especially since both the healthy chicks were late as well.

@Pyxis? Any ideas?

 

[VaultGirl27]

Genetic problems usually show as malformations or deaths, not as hatching delays. A double-dose of a homozygous lethal gene like tufted can cause a death right before hatch, but your chickens aren't tufted, and it still doesn't explain the delayed hatch. Especially since both the healthy chicks were late as well.

@Pyxis? Any ideas?

I'm thinking the late hatch may have to do with colder temperatures during the first part of incubation. I'm just stumped as to why those 2 just died.

 

[VaultGirl27]

All the eggs were laid by a different hen. Each rooster fathered 2 each. Only the banty chicks hatched. Both the standards died. Also had an early quitter that was a banty egg, but it never really started developing

 

[sylviethecochin]

If incubation is too long, and the chicks are chilled, then the damage can show late-term, and they might develop fully, but still be too weak to hatch. I've had this happen with ducks.

But even if it was below freezing, that big hen should have been able to keep four eggs warm. I had a pullet hatch five (of five) in December, once. It was 10 F max for most of the incubation.

 

[VaultGirl27]

If incubation is too long, and the chicks are chilled, then the damage can show late-term, and they might develop fully, but still be too weak to hatch. I've had this happen with ducks.

But even if it was below freezing, that big hen should have been able to keep four eggs warm. I had a pullet hatch five (of five) in December, once. It was 10 F max for most of the incubation.

Does it matter that she's a bantam? She's not that big, but I only gave her a few eggs so it wouldn't be too much. It's also her first time though, so maybe she lost the big ones out from under her or something. It definitely wasn't that cold here, maybe down to the 30s or 40s at night