hatching chickens

[lilbit4life]

My hen has been sitting on eggs for about 3 weeks now and one of them apparently started hatching. The problem with this is the baby was dead when I found it this morning. It still had 1/4 of the shell that didn't come off. Does anyone know why this happened? The rest aren't pipping yet either. What should I do?

 

[TTracy]

So sorry! I dont know much about the wheres and whys of chicks hatching, but I have read that humidity plays a big role. If the egg gets too dried out it can almost "shrink-wrap" around the chick. We had one that was having trouble hatching, and I found this video on you tube that helped us, help the chick. As for the rest of the eggs, I wouldnt give up hope yet! We have had a broody hens clutch take 5 days for all the eggs to hatch. Actually, the last one to hatch we were beginning to think it wouldnt when suddenly we could hear pecking!
Sorry I couldnt be more help, hopefully someone else on here will have some advice! Good luck to yo