Hello! This is the second time we have tried to hatch eggs under a broody hen. The first time was a disaster as our hen killed the chicks as soon as they hatched. She is never allowed to raise chicks again!
This time we have given our little silkie a chance and we put 6 eggs (different breeds) from a local farm under her...one went missing early (I suspect that it was eaten), one was never fertile, the other 4 developed like normal. We have two standard eggs, one polish, and one silkie. I was convinced that the silkie would be the first to hatch as it seemed to be the furthest along in development when I candled them at 10 and 18 days. The two standard and one polish hatched at 19 days….but the little siklie egg has still not even pipped.
Today the egg is at 22 days and no pip or cracks. I figured the embryo probably died so I candled it and to my surprise, big air sack, dark moving embryo. Yes, it is moving….I watched it for a little to make sure that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, but there is movement for sure.
I quickly put the egg back in front of our hen who then moved it under her and settled in. The 3 newly hatched chicks are now three days old and are all over under their mom. A few times the little siklie egg has gotten pushed out from under our hen by the new little chicks. Once our hen notices it, she moves the egg back under, but I am starting to worry that this egg is getting moved around to much.
It seems very odd that the bantam egg is the last to hatch as I know they are usually the first. I was thinking that maybe because it is the smallest egg it didn’t get as much direct heat from the hen as the others and so it is going a bit slower….? I have to be honest that I was pleasantly surprised to see the embryo is still alive and moving, just very surprised it is taking so long and starting to worried it is getting jostled around to much….Has anyone else had this happen?
This time we have given our little silkie a chance and we put 6 eggs (different breeds) from a local farm under her...one went missing early (I suspect that it was eaten), one was never fertile, the other 4 developed like normal. We have two standard eggs, one polish, and one silkie. I was convinced that the silkie would be the first to hatch as it seemed to be the furthest along in development when I candled them at 10 and 18 days. The two standard and one polish hatched at 19 days….but the little siklie egg has still not even pipped.
Today the egg is at 22 days and no pip or cracks. I figured the embryo probably died so I candled it and to my surprise, big air sack, dark moving embryo. Yes, it is moving….I watched it for a little to make sure that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, but there is movement for sure.
I quickly put the egg back in front of our hen who then moved it under her and settled in. The 3 newly hatched chicks are now three days old and are all over under their mom. A few times the little siklie egg has gotten pushed out from under our hen by the new little chicks. Once our hen notices it, she moves the egg back under, but I am starting to worry that this egg is getting moved around to much.
It seems very odd that the bantam egg is the last to hatch as I know they are usually the first. I was thinking that maybe because it is the smallest egg it didn’t get as much direct heat from the hen as the others and so it is going a bit slower….? I have to be honest that I was pleasantly surprised to see the embryo is still alive and moving, just very surprised it is taking so long and starting to worried it is getting jostled around to much….Has anyone else had this happen?
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