Hatching chick

[albodean]

Hi all,

I bought 6 fertilised light Sussex eggs from Ebay to put under my broody. I haven’t had the best of luck with them as 3 were bad and exploded under my broody at around day 18. I cleaned the nest box and the remaining 3 and left them under her.

Yesterday was day 23 and still no pips or sounds so I did the water test. 2 of the 3 were good according to the test so I kept them and discarded the other. This morning (day 24) one of the eggs has pipped and has a moving, tweeting chick inside!

I have 2 questions, the first being will this chick be okay being raised alone by my broody if the other doesn’t hatch? And second, they’ll be staying in the nesting box with the broody, do I need to put chick feed and water in there too? As I assume the chick will be too little to get down the ladder from the coop to feed.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long winded post!

Alex

 

[SeaPolka]

Hi all,

I bought 6 fertilised light Sussex eggs from Ebay to put under my broody. I haven’t had the best of luck with them as 3 were bad and exploded under my broody at around day 18. I cleaned the nest box and the remaining 3 and left them under her.

Yesterday was day 23 and still no pips or sounds so I did the water test. 2 of the 3 were good according to the test so I kept them and discarded the other. This morning (day 24) one of the eggs has pipped and has a moving, tweeting chick inside!

I have 2 questions, the first being will this chick be okay being raised alone by my broody if the other doesn’t hatch? And second, they’ll be staying in the nesting box with the broody, do I need to put chick feed and water in there too? As I assume the chick will be too little to get down the ladder from the coop to feed.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long winded post!

Alex

The chick will be fine alone but mama won't stay on the nest for longer than a day with him/her, she'll want to take him out to scratch and forage. He'll absorb the yolk as he hatches which will keep him fed and watered for three days. I'd put the food and water outside for her to take him to. If the ladder is too steep for him to get up and down you might consider moving your broody to the coop floor under the cover of darkness? Good luck, hope they hatch for you

 

[albodean]

The chick will be fine alone but mama won't stay on the nest for longer than a day with him/her, she'll want to take him out to scratch and forage. He'll absorb the yolk as he hatches which will keep him fed and watered for three days. I'd put the food and water outside for her to take him to. If the ladder is too steep for him to get up and down you might consider moving your broody to the coop floor under the cover of darkness? Good luck, hope they hatch for you

Thank you for the advice! I have also attached a picture of the egg, does this look normal? Chick still moving and making noise. It has been like this for a few hours now.

 

[SeaPolka]

Perfectly normal. They can take quite a while to hatch

 

[albodean]

I went out to check in on the progress this morning and my broody appears to have squashed the chick it was mostly out of the egg but squashed flat and dead.

I can’t think of anything other than the broody must’ve squashed it while sitting?

 

[SeaPolka]

I went out to check in on the progress this morning and my broody appears to have squashed the chick it was mostly out of the egg but squashed flat and dead.

I can’t think of anything other than the broody must’ve squashed it while sitting?

I don't think the broody would've squashed it, maybe the other egg rolled into it? Sorry about your chick ):

 

[albodean]

I don't think the broody would've squashed it, maybe the other egg rolled into it? Sorry about your chick ):

This is how I found it I just thought it looked squashed

 

[SeaPolka]

Ah yeah, it does look like she may have stood on it but the chick has cross beak which may have had something to do with it too? I've had two with cross beak who didn't hatch, and I've had one chick with cross beak I didn't hatch myself. Sadly not all chicks are meant to be. Is the other egg okay? Are you considering buying her some chicks or just leaving her?

 

[albodean]

Ah yeah, it does look like she may have stood on it but the chick has cross beak which may have had something to do with it too? I've had two with cross beak who didn't hatch, and I've had one chick with cross beak I didn't hatch myself. Sadly not all chicks are meant to be. Is the other egg okay? Are you considering buying her some chicks or just leaving her?

Sorry I’m pretty new to keeping chickens and hatching, what is cross beak?

The other egg is still intact and unpipped, I’ve left it under my broody and was going to give it until tomorrow (day 25) to see if it makes any progress.

I was more considering buying an incubator and brooder and trying to hatch myself as she is my only hen that goes broody and wasn’t sure if she’d be up to trying another hatch or raising chicks?

 

[SeaPolka]

Cross beak can be genetic or from an accident while the bird is young. This is my cockerel with cross beak, he isn't allowed to breed and he's a bit "off":

I'd give hatching eggs yourself a go, it's really fun and educational and there are some amazing threads on here to help. She might not go broody again this year but once a hen has been broody, it's likely she'll brood again