I'm posting this to give you guys hope.
About 3 weeks ago I was in the yard and heard chirping coming from one of the boxes. My FIL's game hen was sitting next to her box, irritated that a big Muscovy was trying to lay an egg in her box where she had been broody. When what do I see, but 2 chicks in the box and several eggs missing.
Not sure what happened happened to the eggs, but one chick was dead (assuming Muscovy stepped on it) and the other was next to dead. So I took the live one and the remaining pipped egg and unpipped egg home. I had gotten rid of my incubator and temperature gage so I took a heat lamp and placed it over the them in hopes that SOMETHING would happen.
After about 4 hours the chick was starting to flop around but nothing from the eggs. The pipped one was alive but wasn't moving much. I kept warm rags under him.
We tried to move the game hen to a cage by herself and give her back her eggs and baby and she wanted nothing to do with them. I checked my coops and one hen had decided to go broody, so I brought her inside and gave her eggs--perfect timing! I also gave her the baby and the two other eggs. (Mind you these guys had been without a momma or constant temp for at least 6 hours or more.
My silkie momma didn't talk to the baby but she didn't attack it either and let it crawl under her with the eggs.
After about 12 hours and no progress on the pipped egg, I helped him mostly out of the egg (didn't want the egg to turn to leather overnight and shrink wrap him in as it kept drying out).
The next morning I found two little chicks flopping around. The yellow one I helped out ended up dying the next day, he just wouldn't eat or drink or thrive.
I had completely forgotten about the extra egg under my Silke until about 2-3 days later when I lifted her to take her outside for her broody potty break and what do you know that other egg had hatched sometime that morning!
Three weeks later I currently have 2 chicks still living with the broody in my bathtub. She doesn't really talk to them to much, but she will protect them and she lefts them crawl on her and under her with her eggs.
So even with at least 6 hours of no heat or crazy heat they survived! So there is hope guys!
About 3 weeks ago I was in the yard and heard chirping coming from one of the boxes. My FIL's game hen was sitting next to her box, irritated that a big Muscovy was trying to lay an egg in her box where she had been broody. When what do I see, but 2 chicks in the box and several eggs missing.
Not sure what happened happened to the eggs, but one chick was dead (assuming Muscovy stepped on it) and the other was next to dead. So I took the live one and the remaining pipped egg and unpipped egg home. I had gotten rid of my incubator and temperature gage so I took a heat lamp and placed it over the them in hopes that SOMETHING would happen.
After about 4 hours the chick was starting to flop around but nothing from the eggs. The pipped one was alive but wasn't moving much. I kept warm rags under him.
We tried to move the game hen to a cage by herself and give her back her eggs and baby and she wanted nothing to do with them. I checked my coops and one hen had decided to go broody, so I brought her inside and gave her eggs--perfect timing! I also gave her the baby and the two other eggs. (Mind you these guys had been without a momma or constant temp for at least 6 hours or more.
My silkie momma didn't talk to the baby but she didn't attack it either and let it crawl under her with the eggs.
After about 12 hours and no progress on the pipped egg, I helped him mostly out of the egg (didn't want the egg to turn to leather overnight and shrink wrap him in as it kept drying out).
The next morning I found two little chicks flopping around. The yellow one I helped out ended up dying the next day, he just wouldn't eat or drink or thrive.
I had completely forgotten about the extra egg under my Silke until about 2-3 days later when I lifted her to take her outside for her broody potty break and what do you know that other egg had hatched sometime that morning!
Three weeks later I currently have 2 chicks still living with the broody in my bathtub. She doesn't really talk to them to much, but she will protect them and she lefts them crawl on her and under her with her eggs.
So even with at least 6 hours of no heat or crazy heat they survived! So there is hope guys!
