Day 22 only 1 chick hatched under broody

[Emvega12]

First time broody. 1 chick hatched on day 21 and another started to hatch on day 21 but did not make it and now it is day 22 and there are 7 more eggs under her. I brought food and water directly to chick and mama but when should I call it quits on the other eggs? Should I get day old chicks from feed store?
They were all out under her on the same day on august 11

 

[cavemanrich]

Give it a couple more days. Broody hen will know when its time to jump ship.
If you only have one live chick,, it is a good idea to get some store chicks, and slip under broody, at night.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[Ponypoor]

First time broody. 1 chick hatched on day 21 and another started to hatch on day 21 but did not make it and now it is day 22 and there are 7 more eggs under her. I brought food and water directly to chick and mama but when should I call it quits on the other eggs? Should I get day old chicks from feed store?
They were all out under her on the same day on august 11

Do you know how to candle the eggs? You can try candling them to see if there is anything in the eggs. By this date the egg should be completely dark (filled) with a large air sac. Any that are not dark I would remove, if there are ones that are filled (dark) I would leave those as they could just be late bloomers.

Good luck! And I would do as cavemanrich suggested and get some day-olds from the feed store, slip a few under her at night, put them in from behind and let them crawl up into her fluff.

Let us know how you get on please!

 

[Emvega12]

Do you know how to candle the eggs? You can try candling them to see if there is anything in the eggs. By this date the egg should be completely dark (filled) with a large air sac. Any that are not dark I would remove, if there are ones that are filled (dark) I would leave those as they could just be late bloomers.

Good luck! And I would do as cavemanrich suggested and get some day-olds from the feed store, slip a few under her at night, put them in from behind and let them crawl up into her fluff.

Let us know how you get on please!

Yes last time I candled was day 18 and I did get rid of the ones that were definitely not developing. After that i had 5 definitely moving around and 3 maybes. I can try to candle again tonight, look for movement? Or look to see if they poked the air cell? Thats part of the process right? Lol

I need to get the new chicks under the broody before she leaves the nest right?

 

[Emvega12]

Give it a couple more days. Broody hen will know when its time to jump ship.
If you only have one live chick,, it is a good idea to get some store chicks, and slip under broody, at night.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

Thank you! Will try to just trust her

 

[Ponypoor]

Yes last time I candled was day 18 and I did get rid of the ones that were definitely not developing. After that i had 5 definitely moving around and 3 maybes. I can try to candle again tonight, look for movement? Or look to see if they poked the air cell? Thats part of the process right? Lol

I need to get the new chicks under the broody before she leaves the nest right?

Yes if they have pipped into the air cell you should see that, I was lucky enough once to catch this. Just make sure to put the eggs back the same side up you found it.

And yes put any foster chicks under the broody before she leaves the nest, but being a first time mama she might be slow coming off the nest. My first time mama is 5 days now and I had to haul her off she was getting a bit depressed I felt. Normally they will come off the nest around day 4 though I have found. Not sure if you can get chicks still were you are. but it's not the end of the world if she only raises one chick, there is a person on here who has one chick being raised by 5 (yes 5!) broody silkies. That chick is doing very well!

 

[Ponypoor]

Thank you! Will try to just trust her

Do this at night, then you can sit by and listen to see if she is chatting to the chicks. If you have one of those headlights that has a redlight setting you can sit and watch with that on.

Good Luck!

 

[McChooky]

My hen hatched 1 chick day 21, 3 on day 22 and came off the nest day 24. A 5th chick was given to her on the same day .I hatched it in an incubator from an egg left in the nest (given to her after it dried)

 

[NatJ]

I need to get the new chicks under the broody before she leaves the nest right?

That depends on the broody.

I have had some hens that I added chicks later, up to a week or more later. I added the chicks in the evening after dark, so the chicks could spend all night snuggling under the hen and "talking" with her (peeps and clucking) before they tried to come out and do things in the morning.

Some hens are picky about the color of the chicks, or whether the chicks are different ages or sizes. Other hens do not care. I can't say how your hen will react.

Should I get day old chicks from feed store?

If you want more chicks, you certainly can get more.

If you are worried about raising a single chick alone, a chick raised by a hen is not really alone the same way a chick in a brooder would be: the chick has mama hen to keep it company and teach it how to interact with other chickens.

So I would say that getting more chicks is up to you, whether you actually want more total chicks or not.