Eggs hatching at 22-25 days under a bantam mama

[adrastia]

My first time broody mama has been sitting on her eggs 25 days now and has had 3 chicks hatch, with 2 surviving (hatched at 22, 23 and 24 days). This morning there is evidence of another beginning to hatch. I'm wondering how normal this is for them to hatch so "late". I set them under her on Sunday early afternoon (June 14th), she did a very good job of sitting, only getting up 1-2 times a day. When she was up the other chickens would sit on them too.

I'm wondering if maybe they're taking longer because she's a bantam, and these eggs are from full sized chickens? What other reasons could there be for them all hatching late?

I will probably keep the last 2 under her for another day or so before thinking of taking them away. So far she's doing a good job with her two chicks, they're kept warm and they seem to be eating/drinking just fine.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[CascadiaRiver]

How many eggs do you have under her? She might not have kept them all warm and humid enough to hatch if there was too many. Congrats on the 2 chicks though, and never experienced it myself but I have heard of late batches though.

 

[adrastia]

I gave her 6, but on occasion she kept as many as 6 additional eggs from the other chickens lays. They all seem to prefer to lay in the nest box she's in rather than the empty one. Before her broodiness they all laid in the same box each day, even doubling up if they were laying at the same time...

 

[CascadiaRiver]

I gave her 6, but on occasion she kept as many as 6 additional eggs from the other chickens lays. They all seem to prefer to lay in the nest box she's in rather than the empty one. Before her broodiness they all laid in the same box each day, even doubling up if they were laying at the same time...

Is she covering all the eggs, nothing spilling out under her wings or anything? Have you candled the eggs? Are they peeping, wiggling?

 

[adrastia]

Occasionally some are out and I place them back under her, but she's not the friendliest bantam, so she will occasionally peck me if I get too close! I guess that could be a reason for them not hatching on time, they've gotten a bit cold. The one time I kicked her off the nest to get all the non-fertilized eggs out, she had been sitting on a full dozen and actually had them all covered! Most other times I just tried to keep an eye out for when she was stretching herself to go grab the extra eggs, only to find that one of the other chickens was laying on them now... I'll be glad when we either have the rest hatched or its clear they're not hatching so that I can get my eggs!

 

[XcanjadiToino]

that eggs were hatching at 22-25 days under a bantam mama because they were NOT fresh. Old eggs requires more time (and some breeds like jersey Giant needs more time).

best regards.
[English is not my 1st language. Sorry for any spelling errors!]