Broody Hen's 1st time - First Chick Premature? Advice?

mccashfamrs

Hatching
Jul 19, 2015
7
0
9
Hi all. We have a young bantam hen who became broody recently, so we let her set. She had 6 of her own eggs under her and I tucked in 2 full sized eggs for fun. *I did NOT mark on the calendar the start date so I really have no idea how long she's been sitting, but I do know this week sometime has got to be 21 days.

We lost 1 full sized egg a few weeks ago - it had never developed, so obviously wasn't fertilized. We have 2 roosters so go figure...

I went out and shut everyone up, and as always, checked on her. The other full sized eggs was out from under her, in front of her, and I could see feathers, legs, and yolk. No sound or movement was noted and when my husband came out he picked it up. It was cold. He cracked the rest of the shell away and it's quite obvious that it hatched too early. Did it hatch or did she peck it? Guess we'll never know.

So now do I wait a few more days on the remaining eggs? Is there anyway to tell if they are okay in there?
 
It may have accidentally gotten squished somehow.

You can check the remaining eggs. Go out in the dark with a bright flashlight and shine it through the fat end of each egg. They should be mostly full at this point, so they may be completely dark. You might also notice some veins and movement. If they look clear or off, you can mark them and let them go a bit more or pitch them.

Good luck!
 
EEEK! I went to do my nightly chores and did my normal check under our broody hen. I assumed an egg had hatched because I could hear a loud and clear PEEP PEEP PEEP. Turns out a egg is HATCHING now. :) We moved hen, and all 6 eggs to a separate, safer, on the ground location.

How long does it take a chick to hatch out of that egg?

So glad we waited!!!
 


LOOK! Our first little peeper! The other 5 eggs show no signs that I could see or hear, so I guess we wait a day or two?

Long story short, this is the 2nd generation to be born on our farm. Mama hen was hatched here too (though her mom ran away and we thought she had been eaten, until she showed back up with 8 little babies in tow)

We've never had a yellow chick either! So excited!
 
Yay!
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More feather butts.
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