My broody hen sat on eggs for 22 days, and one out of 4 hatched. I assumed the other three were not viable, since they were actually a day older than the egg that hatched, and had quite large air sacs. I didn't want the remaining eggs to explode and contaminate the day old chick, so under the hen's wild protestations, I grabbed one of the eggs. It s a deep green bantam egg and hard to candle, but the egg sac shows up well. In the egg sac itself, I saw movement, a fluttering. But there was no peeping and no pipping. Now, 13 hrs later, the hen is still on those eggs, more possessively than ever, but I still only hear peeping of one chick. Would I not hear peeping and chirping when it is in the air cell? Would I certainly not hear it by now? Would you actually see fluttering in the air cell, or was I hallucinating? Thanks, Laura
Well, there's now a pip! The hen got up for food so I got to peek! With the eggs I incubated I always heard peeping, so I was worried. Actually, given the weird air sac I'm surprised I didn't toss it. Yay, indecisiveness!
