Day 21: Hen Died on the Nest

[skullgrrrl]

Chicken emergency: I got a call from my friend's chicken sitter that their broody hen had died in the nest some time overnight. Its day 21: two chicks have hatched, one egg is trying and there are 3 other eggs. The chicks are in the brooder.

I have an incubator going for other eggs - is it better to add these eggs (without the turner) to mine and remove when they hatch (its day 14 for mine) or put them in the brooder under the heat lamp?
I can't remove the turner so is that going to complicate things? Can I pull the egg out once it starts to hatch or wait till the chick is out?

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

How sad!!!!!!! I wouldn’t risk hatching the eggs on the egg turner. Is there anyway you could take the turner out until those hatch and then turn yours un til the hatchlings dry out and are put into a brooder??

 

[skullgrrrl]

How sad!!!!!!! I wouldn’t risk hatching the eggs on the egg turner. Is there anyway you could take the turner out until those hatch and then turn yours un til the hatchlings dry out and are put into a brooder??

My eggs are at day 14 and these ones should hatch today. I'm hoping I don't have to lift all the eggs out to remove the turner as that will screw up the temp & humidity. I just turned the turner off hoping that will be ok. One is peeping now, nothing from the other 3 yet.

 

[Rose Quartz]

My eggs are at day 14 and these ones should hatch today. I'm hoping I don't have to lift all the eggs out to remove the turner as that will screw up the temp & humidity. I just turned the turner off hoping that will be ok. One is peeping now, nothing from the other 3 yet.

as long as the turner is off it shouldn't crush them. You might want to candle the other 3 and see if the chicks are doing anything. I would put them in the incubator, just be aware that higher humidity for hatching these couple of eggs might affect your own eggs. If it's only for a day that's not that big of a deal, but if they take a few days to hatch it is something to consider.

 

[skullgrrrl]

as long as the turner is off it shouldn't crush them. You might want to candle the other 3 and see if the chicks are doing anything. I would put them in the incubator, just be aware that higher humidity for hatching these couple of eggs might affect your own eggs. If it's only for a day that's not that big of a deal, but if they take a few days to hatch it is something to consider.

Two of the four eggs are currently hatching.

 

[skullgrrrl]

Update: All 6 have hatched and are out in the brooder (I only had to turn off the egg turner for 12 hrs). I've hatched over 100 chicks this season but don't have any experience raising them without a hen.
The first 3 to hatch (overnight and this morning) are fluffed but not moving around a whole lot. They perk up when I talk to them, put their heads up but seem to shuffle about. All of them seem to be sitting back on their haunches, as opposed to standing upright. Is this normal at this stage? When do they start walking? I've checked for spraddle leg and curled toes and they are normal.

 

[skullgrrrl]

Another update and more drama: The power went out at 4:30am - so I was out to the coop wrapping the brooder to keep the heat in; same with the incubator. This morning we put the brooder in the sun and got it up to the correct temperature.

The first born chick was having issues opening its eyes and since last night they've been closed. We gave it water via a dropper and noticed 'something' when it drank. A tiny worm wiggled out of its nostril! I think that flies or beetles laid eggs on the dead mother hen and this was its larva. We managed to immobilize the chick (it shook its head when the maggot was moving around) and waited, and waited and finally it poked its head out of the chick's nostril and, using a fine pair of tweezers, I was able to extricate a 1/4" maggot. I am hoping it was the only one in there as maggots usually hatch on dead bodies.

And I'm hoping the chick will open its eyes again soon. They are all motoring around now and seem quite healthy. The incubator dipped to 85f and was off for @7hrs - so who knows how those eggs will fare. Good thing I'm on staycation this week because there's been a lot of chicken drama.

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Chicken emergency: I got a call from my friend's chicken sitter that their broody hen had died in the nest some time overnight. Its day 21: two chicks have hatched, one egg is trying and there are 3 other eggs. The chicks are in the brooder.

I have an incubator going for other eggs - is it better to add these eggs (without the turner) to mine and remove when they hatch (its day 14 for mine) or put them in the brooder under the heat lamp?
I can't remove the turner so is that going to complicate things? Can I pull the egg out once it starts to hatch or wait till the chick is out?

You can try stacking the eggs if there is enough clearance?

 

[Leaguinea]

Another update and more drama: The power went out at 4:30am - so I was out to the coop wrapping the brooder to keep the heat in; same with the incubator. This morning we put the brooder in the sun and got it up to the correct temperature.

The first born chick was having issues opening its eyes and since last night they've been closed. We gave it water via a dropper and noticed 'something' when it drank. A tiny worm wiggled out of its nostril! I think that flies or beetles laid eggs on the dead mother hen and this was its larva. We managed to immobilize the chick (it shook its head when the maggot was moving around) and waited, and waited and finally it poked its head out of the chick's nostril and, using a fine pair of tweezers, I was able to extricate a 1/4" maggot. I am hoping it was the only one in there as maggots usually hatch on dead bodies.

And I'm hoping the chick will open its eyes again soon. They are all motoring around now and seem quite healthy. The incubator dipped to 85f and was off for @7hrs - so who knows how those eggs will fare. Good thing I'm on staycation this week because there's been a lot of chicken drama.

Don't give up on the eggs, I have power outages nearly everytime I incubate and still have pretty good hatch rates.

 

[skullgrrrl]

The little guy in the back still isn't opening its eyes - any suggestions?