Some chicks do die at that stage. I do not know all the reasons.Thanks. I did that. We decided that it was possible that 3 more had chicks inside. Candling was hard- couldn’t see much so I was guessing.
I cracked open only those as the others were runny when shaken,
I was correct. 3 fully formed soft wet but not moving chicks. Yolks not absorbed completely. I felt a little sad. I guess she left to feed the 5 she hatched and can’t wait forever. I wonder why those didn’t hatch and if they would have, if she waited? No abnormalities noted. Correct positioning I think.head under wing
But it is a good question whether they would have hatched if she waited-- or if they were already dead before she left the nest.
If they were developing at the same rate as the rest, but died before they finished absorbing the yolk, then they would have died about the same time the live ones started pipping. That would make them dead before the hen left the nest.
On the other hand, if they died after the hen left the nest, that means they still had unabsorbed yolk (not ready to hatch) at a point when the other chicks had completely finished hatching. I would say that being late could mean they had other problems, except that the other ones were early. So these ones might have just developed at the normal rate despite the high temperatures, unlike the earlybirds.
I really don't know what happened, so I'm just thinking out loud here (er, thinking into a keyboard?)-- you may have already thought of all the same things