Our broody hen hatched 10 chicks, and when she took them out into the wide outdoors, leaving the remaining eggs, I gathered them up. One was cheeping and pipping, so I stuffed it in my bra to keep it warm. (I'm forever stuffing things in there to hold them - phone, keys, money... so an egg is an easy step!). There were 7 other eggs which I candled. 5 were duds, and then there were 2 others with chicks inside. I couldn't see in very well (daytime, no dark room, brown shells), so I figured they'd be close to hatching too, and into the bra they went as well, one on each side.
The pipping chick needed some help as it was drying too quickly, so I used a tissue with warm water, and broke the shell (leaving the membrane intact) in a thin circle around the fat end. It got very active after that, and managed to pop out, and hatch in my hand! I kept it in my bra for a few hours until it was fuzzy, dabbed a spot of green food colouring onto its back, and stuffed it under the mother hen when she was sleeping that night. 3 days later, and it's still running around with the other 10.
The other two - I candled them again last night, and found they still have 1 - 2 weeks left. I'm unsure how long, because I can see the chicks inside moving, but they're not very big. It's the middle of summer here in Australia, so I'm not having any problems at all with temperature or humidity. It's averaging out to be about 94F each day, 86F at night. I usually run a little warm too, at about 100F.
I'm rather well endowed, so I seem to squish pretty well. I'm also using a bra which I took the underwire out of after it snapped on one side. It works perfectly fine without underwire in it at all. The eggs fell out the first night, and I found them still warm beside me when I woke up. Since then I've found a better positioning, and I've wrapped them in a tissue each so my sweat won't make them too wet. I'm thinking of making two small cotton bags for them, but I've heard that airflow is important, so I don't know if that would be any worse or better.
The pipping chick needed some help as it was drying too quickly, so I used a tissue with warm water, and broke the shell (leaving the membrane intact) in a thin circle around the fat end. It got very active after that, and managed to pop out, and hatch in my hand! I kept it in my bra for a few hours until it was fuzzy, dabbed a spot of green food colouring onto its back, and stuffed it under the mother hen when she was sleeping that night. 3 days later, and it's still running around with the other 10.
The other two - I candled them again last night, and found they still have 1 - 2 weeks left. I'm unsure how long, because I can see the chicks inside moving, but they're not very big. It's the middle of summer here in Australia, so I'm not having any problems at all with temperature or humidity. It's averaging out to be about 94F each day, 86F at night. I usually run a little warm too, at about 100F.
I'm rather well endowed, so I seem to squish pretty well. I'm also using a bra which I took the underwire out of after it snapped on one side. It works perfectly fine without underwire in it at all. The eggs fell out the first night, and I found them still warm beside me when I woke up. Since then I've found a better positioning, and I've wrapped them in a tissue each so my sweat won't make them too wet. I'm thinking of making two small cotton bags for them, but I've heard that airflow is important, so I don't know if that would be any worse or better.
