luckyclucky84
Hatching
- Jul 10, 2020
- 7
- 9
- 8
Hello everyone 
Long time reader, first time poster. I have found so much helpful information in this forum in my 5 years of having backyard chickens, and I finally have a helpful story to tell others:
We did our first hatch with a broody hen recently, and it did not go as planned. After separating broody hen with her eggs in the dead of night on day 17, we gave her a big comfy crate with food and water to complete her sit. On day 19 when I went to check on her I saw an egg pushed out in front with a beak sticking through! I thought it must have rolled itself out and I pushed it back under. I came back out not 30 minutes later and once again it was pushed out in front. So, once again, I pushed it back under her. I had my inlaws over (horrible timing) and didn't get back out for about an hour, and when I did get out there there was a hatched and deceased chicky baby pushed out in front of her. Horrified, I started frantically googling why she would have done that or what may have happened. I panicked and yelled for my partner who immediately reacted with "let's take them all away". I tried to calm down, told him maybe since she is a first time mom she was confused and lets give her another chance (another egg under her had obviously pipped). We let her be, went back out an hour later and again a baby chick who had just zipped the top off the egg was pushed in front of her. I thought it may have been able to be revived so I pushed it under her and she viciously grabbed it by its neck and tossed it out. I then noticed she had another that had hatched at the same time hiding at the very back of the crate under her.
Now, I knew she was killing them on purpose, but I didn't know if it was those specific chicks or if she would do the same to the one that hatched? My partner was panicked, I was messaging everyone I knew with chickens who have hatched, when the little chicky popped it's cute little head out the front from under her wing. She didn't react, made a broody noise, I thought all was well and Disney happy but then her eyes widened and she suddenly started jack hammering the chick on the head. OK I get it you're a homicidal mother time to remove!!
We grabbed chicky baby, grabbed mama, and did the world's quickest google of an emergency incubation (We have no incubator, no knowledge, never hatched). Enter a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag and a damp towel. We put all the eggs, including one that was half hatched, into the box and under a heat lamp. We misted the half hatched egg the entire time it tried to hatch and it made it! We then soaked some cedar 2x4's we had and placed them over the box with the heat lamp shining in to hold moisture and heat. That was a very long night, which involved me waking every hour to mist but also another egg pipping and hatching!
The next day we bought a humidity gauge and plopped it in, which helped us pip and hatch another egg. At this point a lovely friend in the community dropped an incubator on our doorstep and we were able to hatch out 2 more eggs. Bringing the grand total of saved chicky babies to 5 out of 11 eggs (and 4 were rotten we learned from them weeping in the incubator).
I wanted to share this story about what one can use in an emergency situation to hatch eggs as we were only able to find stories of people using actual incubators or styrofoam containers. If it is later in the evening, you live in a small town, and you find yourself with eggs in the middle of hatching/ready to hatch in the next couple days, you can use a cardboard box, a wet towel, and a heat lamp. Some soaked cedar doesn't hurt and a humidity gauge when store's open the next day. Obviously it helps that it is summer and hot and humid and we are in the middle of an intense heat wave.
Hope this helps someone!
Long time reader, first time poster. I have found so much helpful information in this forum in my 5 years of having backyard chickens, and I finally have a helpful story to tell others:
We did our first hatch with a broody hen recently, and it did not go as planned. After separating broody hen with her eggs in the dead of night on day 17, we gave her a big comfy crate with food and water to complete her sit. On day 19 when I went to check on her I saw an egg pushed out in front with a beak sticking through! I thought it must have rolled itself out and I pushed it back under. I came back out not 30 minutes later and once again it was pushed out in front. So, once again, I pushed it back under her. I had my inlaws over (horrible timing) and didn't get back out for about an hour, and when I did get out there there was a hatched and deceased chicky baby pushed out in front of her. Horrified, I started frantically googling why she would have done that or what may have happened. I panicked and yelled for my partner who immediately reacted with "let's take them all away". I tried to calm down, told him maybe since she is a first time mom she was confused and lets give her another chance (another egg under her had obviously pipped). We let her be, went back out an hour later and again a baby chick who had just zipped the top off the egg was pushed in front of her. I thought it may have been able to be revived so I pushed it under her and she viciously grabbed it by its neck and tossed it out. I then noticed she had another that had hatched at the same time hiding at the very back of the crate under her.
Now, I knew she was killing them on purpose, but I didn't know if it was those specific chicks or if she would do the same to the one that hatched? My partner was panicked, I was messaging everyone I knew with chickens who have hatched, when the little chicky popped it's cute little head out the front from under her wing. She didn't react, made a broody noise, I thought all was well and Disney happy but then her eyes widened and she suddenly started jack hammering the chick on the head. OK I get it you're a homicidal mother time to remove!!
We grabbed chicky baby, grabbed mama, and did the world's quickest google of an emergency incubation (We have no incubator, no knowledge, never hatched). Enter a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag and a damp towel. We put all the eggs, including one that was half hatched, into the box and under a heat lamp. We misted the half hatched egg the entire time it tried to hatch and it made it! We then soaked some cedar 2x4's we had and placed them over the box with the heat lamp shining in to hold moisture and heat. That was a very long night, which involved me waking every hour to mist but also another egg pipping and hatching!
The next day we bought a humidity gauge and plopped it in, which helped us pip and hatch another egg. At this point a lovely friend in the community dropped an incubator on our doorstep and we were able to hatch out 2 more eggs. Bringing the grand total of saved chicky babies to 5 out of 11 eggs (and 4 were rotten we learned from them weeping in the incubator).
I wanted to share this story about what one can use in an emergency situation to hatch eggs as we were only able to find stories of people using actual incubators or styrofoam containers. If it is later in the evening, you live in a small town, and you find yourself with eggs in the middle of hatching/ready to hatch in the next couple days, you can use a cardboard box, a wet towel, and a heat lamp. Some soaked cedar doesn't hurt and a humidity gauge when store's open the next day. Obviously it helps that it is summer and hot and humid and we are in the middle of an intense heat wave.
Hope this helps someone!
