Confused eggs?

[laurenhill11245]

I have three eggs in my incubator currently hatching, but unfortunately it is not as straight forward as it seems

You see my Wyandotte hens started sitting last month for the first time, one day when I went down on the morning they were having a break so I had a quick peep and saw only two eggs, I thought well it's only two but hey at least they're sitting! anyway Saturday 20th I went down and ta daa there was a chick sat under one of them hooray!

this is my third time hatching under a broody hen I left him tor dry off then went to collect him later on (as the first time I let my hens hatch chicks they were too rough and killed them all) as I lifted her up to retrieve him I realised she had three unhatched eggs under her!

I know they don't continue to lay after raising there body temp normally. Anyway I candled them and they all looked happy so I left them for her to hatch. I checked under her again on Tuesday to see if she was sat on any chicks and she had an extra three eggs! This was when I decided to take them off her and kick her out of the nest box as I value mothers life more than unborn chicks (sorry babies) and she was getting thin and going bald from constantly sitting and if I let her she would be sitting for at least another month. Anyway i sorted the eggs and put the original three in my incubator (first time using it) I had no idea about they're exact age. last night at 4:30 (ish) one of the eggs pipped! yey

and the other rolling around. I put them into lock down and left them overnight as I know not too help them in case they haven't absorbed the yolk or dried all the blood vessels. It is not 11:30 am the next day about 19hours later I think??? I'm no good at math) and they're still as they were last night one has pipped but no further :/ and the other two haven't pipped. I am wondering what to do? should I still leave the or help the one that has pipped? the one that has pipped is still moving so the chick is still alive, one of the others is moving too but the third hasn't moved all morning :/ any advice?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Any advice? Next time you have a broody, collect all the eggs you want her to hatch, mark them, and start them all at the same time. Then check under her daily and remove any that are not marked. As long as you remove any new eggs daily, you can still use them. But this is for the next time.

That was easy. Your current situation is harder, a lot harder. I’m not sure you know that all three eggs started at the same time. It may be days before that third egg is ready. On the ones that haven’t pipped, patience, patience, patience.

On the one that has pipped, that is a very hard call. 19 hours is a long time, yet occasionally one will go that long and still hatch. If the others have not pipped, it won’t hurt to open the incubator. The eggs won’t dry out enough to cause any problems if they have not pipped.

If you see yellow foam coming out of the pip hole, it is now or never. Otherwise it is your call whether you try to help or not. It’s getting to the point that it is a toss-up whether that chick will hatch on its own or not. If it doesn’t have the strength to hatch on its own, it often will not have the strength to live even if you help it, but some do make it.

Not much help, I know. But it’s not a cut and dried easy question.

Good luck!

 

[laurenhill11245]

Thanks for the advice, next time I think I will just hatch in my incubator rather than under a broody hen. Just seems I've had a bit of trouble with broody hens. I'll leave him for now but when 24hours has passed I'll take a look. again thanks for the advice

 

[laurenhill11245]

Finally!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s good to see.

Have you figured out how long it was from pip to zip? If that photo is recent, I make it about 26 hours.

 

[laurenhill11245]

Yep somewhere between 24- 26 hours, he did it all himself tho and is a strong looking chick maybe the egg was just too comfy for him