dead baby chicks in the nest :-(

[anniemary]

I have five nests with clutches of eggs. We've seen five baby chicks so far that are doing well. There are five to seven hens that are sitting on these five nests trying to hatch eggs.

Tonight, my husband pulled off the hens to check on things. One hen had a filthy, wet wing. When we looked in her nest, there were about two or three mangled dead baby chicks (or baby chick parts) in a wet slimy mess with eggs chips. What is happening?

Also, she was the first to go broody. She began sitting on April 1st. The other five started sitting within one or two consecutive days of each other after her. I just read that if 24 hours goes by and no other eggs hatch after the first baby chicks, that I should remove the eggs. Is this true? How much longer should I give these hens to hatch these eggs?

Maybe we should candle the eggs?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[HEChicken]

I wish I had an answer for you but I'm still waiting for one of my BO's (you know, the breed that is *always* broody) to go broody so I haven't had any experience yet. I believe you are correct that unhatched eggs should be removed 24 hours after the last chick has hatched. However I would worry that they are just slow to hatch so I would probably candle them before discarding. When you say you have 5 hens sitting, are they separated from one another? I ask because from what I've read, sometimes hens that are hatching together will get competitive over the chicks and fight over them to the death of the chicks.

 

[Cackling Hen]

Hi are the hens in seperate nest boxes They all need to have there own nest were the other hen can get to them or they will step on peck and hurt or kill the chicks Sorry wish I could be more help. I have had hens eggs hatch 1-2 days after the first chick is out.