Broody hen first timer.

[spencerbaillie]

Hi. I'm new to the site and fairly new to chickens. This is my first post. I've had chickens for over a year (all bought at almost laying age, a mix of different breeds) but recently we came upon some fertilized eggs (amaraucana) There were eight in total and now we are at two left. Most were duds but I did find one fully formed chick half way out of its egg, dead inside the broody box where I'm keeping the hen and eggs. One of the eggs we have left just started pipping. There's a small hole and I can hear chirping. I had lifted and moved the hen slightly to see the eggs progress and when she went to pull the eggs back under her her beak went right in the pip hole. It didn't make the hole any larger but I thought I would ask here if that's a big problem.

So I guess my questions are...

Should I be out there sitting and watching every single minute and second of this hatching process to make sure everything is ok because I'm crazy?

And

Should I just bring the egg inside and put it in my home made incubator to make sure the hen doesn't kill the chick like she did the last one that hatched (if in fact she did)

Thanks!

 

[ShadyHillFarm]

First timer with broody hens here too and everything I've read says leave it. I heard peeping the other night and came out to a fully fluffed up chick. Then the next day, two more. All from a very young broody hen (not even a year old). So far, she's doing a great job.

 

[Broody Queen]

Its really up to you, these things happen, especially with first time broodies, if you want to be on the safe side then bring the egg inside. You definitely dont have to be out there watching, there is nothing you can do and every time you lift the broody up its like opening the incubator, you mess with the temperature and the humidity, its ok if you do it once and i know how hard it is to not peak but if you do decide to leave the egg outside the best thing to do is let the broody be. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[spencerbaillie]

So! It all worked out. I ended up bringing the chick inside and even had to help it out of the egg quite a bit. The little one never ended up zipping around the egg and just stuck its head out of a hole it created. I removed some of the shell and helped it through the (very white and tough) membrane. Here is the little one now! Staying warm and doing its thing.

 

[Broody Queen]

Aww, so cute! I'm glad everything worked out!!