broody hen/eggs please help urgently

[mandymoo]

hi, i'm a new chicken mummy when it comes to hatching, and my broody has been sitting on fertile eggs for 22 days today

2 hatched on monday, 1 egg's totally disappeared...not sure if she's eaten it?? and i had 3 eggs left under her

when she was off the nest with the 2 chicks just now (i'm in the UK so in a different time zone to most of you!) i noticed that 1 egg was bashed in all one side, almost as if mum hen had squashed it. the membrane's intact, and there's obviously a chick in there, but there's no cheeping. when i've been reading about the egg actually hatching, it always looks like the chick pecks away from the inside of the egg all the way round,it never looks bashed in! do you think mum hen is killing the unhatched eggs?

i had an incubator all set up ready to set some eggs this morning, so it was up to temp, and i've taken the 2 intact eggs off mum and put them in there in case she IS destroying them..it's day 22...do you think i've done the right thing? i'm not gonna set my other eggs in the incubator till tomorrow now, to see if mum hen's will hatch in there first, or should i just put them back in with mum, and let nature take it's course?

my head's all over the place, i don't know what to do for the best ...thanks x

 

[sumi]

It is possible that the 2 unhatched eggs were duds, or they could still hatch. The best way to find out is by either leaving them in the incubator for another day or 2 and give them a bit more time or candling them and checking to see if there are indeed chicks in there and for internal pips. If you shine the light through the fat end of the egg check for a beak (shadow) in the air sac (clear space) and check what the egg looks like below the air sac, if it's clear toss it somewhere far away and if there is a dark space and visible veins just below the air sac line keep it in the incubator for another day or so.

The cracked egg is difficult though. Mom probably squashed it accidentally, it happens easily when the egg gets caught between the hen's breast bone and a hard place. I'd suggest opening the egg at the air sac (candle to see where it is) and check if the chick is still o.k. in there. If it is you will probably need to help it out. You can remove the shell over the air sac space and carefully dampen the membrane covering the chick, check for movement/response from the chick and for visible blood vessels. If there is any visible vessels, leave the egg in the incubator with the other 2 for a few hours before continuing. If the chick is o.k. and there is no visible vessels you can remove enough of the membrane and shell to allow it to hatch by itself. If you come across any blood vessels, stop and put it back in the incubator. If you accidentally damage a vessel, dab a little cornstarch on it to stop the bleeding and put it back in the incubator.

Good luck and fingers crossed!

 

[mandymoo]

thank you so much for your help

i took the smashed egg out of her nest, but straightaway i could see it was dead.it was fully formed, which is so sad

i've put the other 2 eggs in the incubator,and am gonna leave well alone for 24 hrs to see if anything happens

because i'm new at hatching, i'm not confident enough to candle them!

the 2 chicks that hatched on monday are doing well with mum, and they're eating and drinking

considering it was her first time, i think she's done really well

 

[sumi]

Oh, poor baby! Hopefully the other two will be o.k. and will hatch for you. Candling is not difficult, take a nice bright flashlight/torch and go into a dark room/space (I climb into the cupboard if I need to candle during the day), or sit under a thick blanket, then hold the light against the egg, by the fat end where the air sac is and on the side as well. You may need to hold your fingers around the egg to block the light shining past. Give it a shot? Here are some fantastic candling pics to show you what to look for:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

 

[mandymoo]

just done what you suggested on the 2 eggs i've put in the bator....on one egg there was a really big dark shadow, and no movement when i gently shook it ie no liquid sound

on the other egg, the dark shadow was about half the size, and when i gently shook it i could feel something moving about...liquid maybe? i don't know

is the shadow the yolk or the chick getting ready to hatch?

they both had big air sacs at the fat end

 

[mandymoo]

is the shadow the yolk or the chick getting ready to hatch?

duh..can't believe i asked that!! i've been up since 5am so my brain's like mush!

anyway, i'm gonna leave both eggs in the bator for 24hrs to see if anything happens

i have 12 new eggs waiting to go in there as well...they were laid at the weekend, and i got them thru the post yesterday. i let them sit perfectly still for 24hrs, and i've just turned them once today...will they be ok out of the bator for another 48hrs, if i turn them 3 times a day, to give the other 2 eggs chance to hatch, or is it ok to put the new 12 in there as well today?

sorry for all the questions, but i'm starting to panic!

 

[sumi]

just done what you suggested on the 2 eggs i've put in the bator....on one egg there was a really big dark shadow, and no movement when i gently shook it ie no liquid sound

on the other egg, the dark shadow was about half the size, and when i gently shook it i could feel something moving about...liquid maybe? i don't know

is the shadow the yolk or the chick getting ready to hatch?

they both had big air sacs at the fat end

Sorry, had to run off. Ehh, the second egg doesn't sound viable. I think I'd toss that one before it does something bad like explode! I've thankfully never experienced it myself, but can imagine it won't be fun to clean that mess up.

The dark bit is the chick, if you look just below the air sac line you may see some veins as well. Is it filling the egg below the air sac? If you see a shadow pointing into the air sac it may be the chick's beak. When you see that the chick pipped internally and is starting to get ready to hatch.

 

[sumi]

Quote: Don't worry, you should hear me when I'm tired! LOL

I think for safety sake let's see what this egg does before setting the new ones. Give it until tomorrow. If it hasn't hatched by then it's probably not going to. The new eggs are still fresh, they can wait another day. Just continue as you were, keep them fat end up and tilt them every 12 hours.

 

[mandymoo]

i'll candle the non viable looking one again to make sure...it's not a liquidy sound when it moves, it 's as if you can feel something more solid slightly moving

i keep watching them, willing them to start wobbling or something!

should i wait 48hrs before putting my new batch in? will they be ok if i don't put them in, if i keep turning them?

or should i put them in now?

right, i'm going back in the cupboard now lol!

 

[sumi]

Go candle them again and tell me exactly what you see in there.

You can safely store eggs up to 10 days before setting them, but ideally you should not set eggs older than 7 days. After day 7 their hatch ability drops by 0.5% per day. So if you set them before the weekend they will be good. In the meantime store them at around 16*C (60*F), 75% humidity and tilt them 90* once a day.