ok...baby 4 has hatched. We have named it Hope, boy or girl. Mama, Bertha, was the broody hen for 18 days, then Martha took over and presided over the actual hatching of 3 egg, 2 salmon favs, and 1 white crested black polish we put under Bertha from our other mini flock.
When Martha got up and left the nest with her 3 chicks, we took the 6 unhatched eggs and put them into the incubator (which I had prepared just in case). We said "all we can do now is hope that some of these others hatch"...hence the name Hope.
Martha and 1st 3 chicks, Miki, Daisy, and Onyx(adopted)
No. 4, Hope. Still wet behind the ears...and everywhere else
We did have 2 tragic accidents, one the momma apparently crushed one of the polish chicks in the middle of the night, possible during or just before hatching. Count:4 hatched, 2 fatalities, 5 unhatched..another day or two?