Went out this morning to change the water for the chooks and on a whim opened up the box they're in. I immediately discovered that the second chick was stood upon mid-hatch and was killed. I removed it and found a third hatching. Hopefully this goes better for him. My husband is -very- sad. He always takes this sort of thing very hard. :/
Yes, that is the main reason I stopped using broodies a couple of years back. It can be such a random process
with unacceptable losses. With incubators and a succession of secure brooders you have so much more control
over the whole process. I rarely lose a single chick after hatch these days.
xxxx M