Lauragraceframpo
Hatching
- Jul 28, 2017
- 2
- 0
- 4
hello all, looking for advice as was my first time with my broody hen and I popped a clutch of eggs under her and anxiously waited. We moved her to a broody pen on day 19 and the next day one egg had disappeared and I found a few bits of shell in amongst the straw. I wasn't sure what had happened? On day 22 two eggs began to hatch land a third was wobbling around. I checked in the evening and one chick was half out the shell but dead, the second had poked its beak out but was very quiet and still. We removed the dead chick and checked again in the morning. The second egg was still as it was in the evening with its beak poked out so I presumed dead. I came back an hour later with a friend to inspect the eggs properly and the egg was gone, only a few bits of shell again. We removed the remaining eggs to candle them. Opened up one to find a fully formed chick that had pipped through the membrane but then died. The other eggs had nothing in them. So out of 6 eggs, we had 3 fully formed and beginning to hatch chicks that all died but 2 that were possibly eaten by mama hen??? Does that happen? I've never heard of it before but I am fairly new to chicken keeping (had them about ten months now). Very disappointed that we had no chicks. Any advice greatly appreciated.
