Broody hen crushed hatch day egg/chick and ate the yolk sak

[itsredcandy]

EMERGENCY: So upset right now. Today is hatch day with my broodies and their 6 eggs. 5 barnyard mix EE's and 1 bantam barnyard mix. I traded 6 infertile eggs for the farm's possibly fertile eggs. I went out earlier this morning to check on the girls and their eggs and all was well. 2 hours later I notice both hens off the nest and what looks like an exploded egg. On further investigation I notice that my BO has yolk stuck to her beak and blood on her chest. I decided to go into the broody run and find that the egg is crushed and there is a fully developed chick still alive but barely. Within seconds it perished. Is this normal? Was she startled? Should I get the BO out of the brooder and let the OEB continue on the hatch? Should I just leave them alone and hope she doesn't kill the last 5?

 

[sourland]

In an attempt to save the hatch, I would remove the large hen and allow the bantam to continue setting. In my experience such scenarios have been quite common when I used to allow hens to share a communal nest. Good luck in salvaging the rest.

pichuris says it well in the next post: "One broody to each nest/clutch of eggs."

 

[pichuris]

Without fully knowing what really happened its hard to say what you should do. Are your broodies separate from the remaining flock?
Maybe baby was pipping & your broody went to move it under her more & the egg broke. What concerns me is why was she off the nest at this point. My broodies won't leave the nest even to get a drink of water once babies start hatching. Its hard to say but go with what your instinct is saying.

So re-read the post. Do you have two broodies on the same nest with same eggs?
If that's the case they probably broke it fighting over the eggs. One broody to each nest/clutch of eggs.

 

[itsredcandy]

They had their own clutches. These two girls have been close buddies since I brought them home in Sept as chicks. The EOB went broody first and she got the 6 eggs. Within days her buddy, BO, took up broody in the box next to her and I place 3 of the eggs from the EOB under her. Last week I created a broody pen, separated from the rest of the flock and in a safe location for when the chicks hatch. They had seperate nests but they moved their eggs together and have been nest together for a week. Keep in mind that the BO has put a wing over the EOB since bring them home every night up until the EOB went broody. After moving their nests together the BO did this again as if she's always been the EOB's mother. I'll get her out and let the EOB finish the hatch. Maybe the BO will go nuts to get back in once the chicks are hatched. I'll have to play that one by ear and keep a close eye on them.

 

[pichuris]

I would go with how you feel since you know their personalities. Good luck. Crossing my fingers for some baby chicks.

 

[itsredcandy]

I would go with how you feel since you know their personalities. Good luck. Crossing my fingers for some baby chicks.

We have babies!!! I seperated the girls. I ran to the feed store and got one of the broody's 3 baby chicks, put them under her and left the bantam with the eggs. Well she didn't take a liking to the babies and would peck at them so I covered the brooder with blankets indoors and she left them alone, kept them warm and in the morning didn't want anything to do with them when they came out from under her. My bantam hatched out 2 eggs this morning so I ran out with the three chicks I got yesterday and put them under her with the other two. I removed the unhatch remaining two eggs and put them under the buff orpington. She has excepted the eggs and is happily brooding again. I hear chirping in one so she'll have a chick soon too. My bantam has excepted all 5 babies. All of which are standard size. The chicks that hatched today are bigger than one of the chicks i picked up yesterday. I have no idea what I got. The two she hatched out are green barnyard mixed. One has black legs, black with a white spot like a Australorp and the other is a squirrel looking ee with green legs.

 

[pichuris]

Oh, Great NEws! I'm so excited for you. Crossing fingers that more hatch.

 

[itsredcandy]

Ok, the girls are back together. Buffy had two eggs, one turned out to be a dud. Total of 6 chicks including the 3 I bought. They are all doing and the mama hens seem happy to be back together and doing this as a team. The chicks all seem to like my OEB better than the BO. They'll go under her to sleep but like to hang with the OEB to eat. Happy little family.

 

[pichuris]

Double great news! Have fun and enjoy.

 

[lizgarf]

Hi,
I just discovered this thread while searching on my current problem. I also have team broodies, who sound almost exactly like your situation. I got fertile eggs for one broody, and then the other joined her, and they were inseparable before.
Today I came home to a crushed egg and mess on the other eggs and one of the hens. I think the crushed egg was viable, so I don't think there was a bacterial infection, but I just don't know. I did my best to clean the dirty eggs by just wiping down with a damp cloth and alcohol, but I'm worried that they'll all be vulnerable now, or the other eggs might get crushed. I had just passed the half-way point, and I had just removed a different cracked egg that started to smell a little and appeared dead when I candled it the night before. I thought I was protecting the other eggs, but then this happened!
Anyway, how did it go with cleaning up the eggs when you had the crushed one? At what point did you reintroduce the broodies and their chicks with the rest of the flock? My flock is small, and everyone gets along, so I hadn't separated them, but maybe I have to?
I'm so sad! Any thoughts are welcome!