Broody Hen Thread!

[OneCrazyCowgirl]

It still hasn't hatched

 

[OneCrazyCowgirl]

So my chicken had a baby 5 days early and yesterday I noticed she abandoned the eggs. I was about to throw them out when I heard a peep and it moved in my hand. I quickly put it back. The next day she wasnt sitting on them. The egg was cold, no peeps but I could feel a little movement. What do I do? I don't have an incubator so that won't work. I put a wet towel around it with a heat lamp. I'm keepin it at 99 degrees. Once I put it in the heat and it started moving wildly inside the egg and peeped. Now it's quiet. Will it be alright? Do I need to do anything else? How long do you think it'll hatch
It's been under the heat lamp and my watch for 3 hours. I hear the occasional peep and move but no crack. It's been doing this for 2 days. I'm afraid it won't last much longer if its taking forever.

Should I help it out ???

 

[NewToFarming]

Do you know how many days it is at?

 

[Audio51]

You may want to make a very small hole in the she and the membrane inside. Just big enough to allow air in but not big enough to cause bleeding, then just keep it warm and keep the humidity up. Humidity is very important. If it's too low it will stick ot the chick and keep it from being able to get out. Hopefully others with more experience with this will offer more info.

 

[julie0477]

You may want to make a very small hole in the she and the membrane inside.  Just big enough to allow air in but not big enough to cause bleeding, then just keep it warm and keep the humidity up.  Humidity is very important.  If it's too low it will stick ot the chick and keep it from being able to get out.  Hopefully others with more experience with this will offer more info.

what day is it on? I had a broody abandon two eggs for about five days. Only sat on them at night. They were a week behind her other eggs that had already hatched. Anyway it was a warm week and the nest it was in stayed warm. On day 21 (for these eggs) I checked and one had pipped. Later that night I came home and it had made no more progress. Just that little crack in the egg. Momma hen completely ignoring the egg. I did just as this poster said and made a small hole thru the membrane. The chick hatched about an hour after I did that. Sorry I rambled. My point is you are doing great! And if you are at day 21 keep a close eye! If the humidity is not right it may have a tough time breaking thru. just make sure it's ready before you try helping it out and do only make a small hole. No
Pressure right Let us know how it goes!

 

[OneCrazyCowgirl]

Do you know how many days it is at?

You may want to make a very small hole in the she and the membrane inside.  Just big enough to allow air in but not big enough to cause bleeding, then just keep it warm and keep the humidity up.  Humidity is very important.  If it's too low it will stick ot the chick and keep it from being able to get out.  Hopefully others with more experience with this will offer more info.

what day is it on? I had a broody abandon two eggs for about five days. Only sat on them at night. They were a week behind her other eggs that had already hatched. Anyway it was a warm week and the nest it was in stayed warm. On day 21 for this egg I checked it and it had pipped. Later that night I came home and it had made no more progress. Just that little crack in the egg. Momma hen completely ignoring the egg. I did just as you said and made a small hole thru the membrane. The chick hatched about an hour after I did that. Sorry I rambled. My point is you are doing great! And if you are at day 21 keep a close eye! If the humidity is not right it may have a tough time breaking thru. Let us know how it goes!

Thanks! It's 5 days behind. Momma hen is laying on 2 others so I went ahead and place the egg back underneath her. Hopefully she'll stay that aay

 

[Audio51]

That would be ideal...that she continues to incubate. Are you able to temporarily remove the other chicks from her and put them under a brooder light with food and water? I think she would be more likely to continue with the eggs if she doesn't have the lure of older chicks to pull her away ...

 

[julie0477]

You are going thru exactly what I went thru last week. It's tough. I won't let that happen again :/ putting the others under a light is not a bad idea....

 

[StomperChick]

Thank you for the reply! It is much appreciated. Any suggestions on when I should introduce the new chicks. I've read that I shouldn't open the incubator until all the chicks hatch, but if it takes >24hrs for them to all hatch, can I take the ones that are dry to her? Is it best to just wait until they are all dry and introduce them all at once under her at night?

Well good news i think, I cleaned the mother coop of all the shavings and hay that were in there with the last hatch. (didn't want any snake smell still lingering). Gave her all new bedding and water and feed, Put her back in the coop with an egg that was layed by a hen today. She went right over and began to nest down. I am hopeful she will accept the new chicks when they hatch in a few days. Thanks again. I'll post again and let you know how it goes

 

[OneCrazyCowgirl]

That would be ideal...that she continues to incubate.  Are you able to temporarily remove the other chicks from her and put them under a brooder light with food and water?  I think she would be more likely to continue with the eggs if she doesn't have the lure of older chicks to pull her away ...

You are going thru exactly what I went thru last week. It's tough. I won't let that happen again :/ putting the others under a light is not a bad idea....

Well I've tried and the hen flipped. She knocked over the eggs, crushed one and knocked over water and food. There is only one chick and I put the water and food nearby. They are in like a tiny mini coop/ brooder. The chick usually stays under mom or near the food which is right by her. So I'm gonna leave the chick for now....