Chick just hatched, seems to be under developed? I'm new at this, please help! Have had 5 deaths so

Lots of questions. I'll try to answer.

It sounds like you have a hen who doesn't have good instincts. The chicks developed so she is keeping the eggs at the proper temperature and turning the eggs but when hatching time comes something goes wrong.

Does the hen have a large enough broody box? One that she has plenty of room to stand up and walk to change position on the eggs? Too small a space could be a contributing factor.

The chicks might have a genetic/developmental disability. Something may not have developed correctly in order for them to survive. The mother might sense this and that could be why she wasn't paying attention to the chick.

This is all an educated guess. It is heartbreaking and I'm sorry.

 

Okay, With my hens when I find a brand new fresh from the egg chick it can look very unwell, for example yesterday i found one struggling to get out of its egg and so I helped it and the poor little thing was covered in blood which sounds similar to your story. I left it under the hen and came back to a cute fluffy chicken, most if not all baby chickens i have ever hatched have started off looking awful they are very wobbly and don't start moving for at least a day some times up to three, occasionally i do go out and find a chick that never made it out of its shell, id say loosing so many perhaps her shells are too hard, but i'm not sure if that actually happens, honestly though the mother dosen't really nurture the chicken, she just goes about her business and chick watches and learns. The chick should be fine, i'd suggest putting it back with it's mother and she should be able to keep it warm enough. When they dry off thats when they fluff up. hope this was helpful

 

Was the one with blood on it still wet? Can you tell if it has absorbed the yolk? If it is just hatched they do lay still for a few hrs to get their strength. It also could be the mother killing them. I had a broody hatch 6 last december and she had a few hatch out and do fine, but 2 or 3 of them she killed right after they hatched. Who knows why I have also had some die on their own and that is very common. Sometimes they will pip externally and die in the shell and sometimes they will get all the way out of the shell and die after a day. I have never had all my babies live, I always lose a few.

 

I don't usually have too much trouble with hatching them, it's very rare i loose any. Perhaps it's something to do with what you feed the mothers? Forgive me if i sound like im acusing you of being a bad chicken owner, im not i think if you love your poultry and do the best job you can your a wonderful owner, im just putting forth suggestions.. maybe i can help?

 

Are you addressing me or the thread starter?

 

I was adressing you sorry

 

Well my feed is layer pellets from the feed store so nothing out of the ordinary there. And I always leave my broodys alone, I never interfere so any lost chick is just nature taking it's course. All chicken people/things I have read say it is normal/ to be expected to loose some and to be prepared or it

 

Sorry if i was rude, it just sounded like you lose heaps...

Mine get poulett starter and layer mash/mix and like you i leave mine be.

 

No I didn't take it as rude And no I do not lose heaps, sorry if it sounded that way. If a broody hatches 9 or 10 i usually find 1 dead the next day(not always) I have also checked the eggs on the 21st day to find a seemingly healthy chick pip a good size hole and chirp like crazy, to find it a few hours later dead in its shell, who knows why but it happens