Hatching Natural eggs

[jessvolvochick]

I have two problems one is about the eggs and one is about the hens

So I do natural hatching two broody hens side by side with 8 eggs each on day 1 and plenty of other egg boxes to use but today I had 3 stomped on eggs and dead chicks because for batch 4 it’s day 18 I’m so sad. How do I fix this I didn’t want to incubate but wanted to do natural hatching and this is batch number 4 and 5 batch 5 is on day 5 so none stood on yet. I always lose a few around this day for some reason.

Second problem the ones that got stood on as I number them two days ago all had dark jiggly egg white as I rotate the egg around and chick wasn’t really moving but dark water was moving so not sure if the hens knew the chicks had died.
The last 4 eggs are very dark and no dark watery moving around inside and I always leave them in “egg coop lockdown” from today.

Extra question last time on day 21 one chick started to pip right as I was locking them up for the night (2 had already hatched fine that day) so I left it to hatch naturally well in the morning it had zipped and died in the egg. What did I do wrong?
Photo of last two chicks that hatched

 

[Lady of McCamley]

For the best broody hatches never mix ages of eggs. Always mark and set all eggs at the same time, keeping broody hens designated, and best each separated in an isolated box only that hen has access to with food and water nearby.

I have main cooped hatched with mixed sets and multiple hens, but you will always have some stomping losses, or stolen eggs, or eggs rolled out and chilled as hens typically compete. That's why if you want to assure no to little loss, create an isolation hutch for each hen. I typically have 90 to 100 percent hatches then.

As to death during late hatch, there are so many reasons. Failure to thrive, chilled as mom attended to the already hatched, shrink wrapped, etc. It's not unusual and other than setting all eggs at the same time and giving the hen her necessary space and isolation, there is little you can do.

It's the nature of broody hatching. Some years go super well, others not so much. Don't beat yourself up over it. You can attempt to rescue with a back up incubator and introduce later, but that can causes issues too at reintroduction. It's why the big boys go to artificial brooding and hatching to temp and environment control hatches to lower losses, but even they will have some loss. I much prefer the natural broody process as I get stronger chicks and flock in the long run.

My thoughts
LofMc

 

[Ridgerunner]

Many people seem to be able to have multiple broodies in different nests on separate schedules in the same coop, but I have had issues with that. When the chicks started internal pip (they start peeping then) one hen tried to take over the hatch, half of the eggs were destroyed in that fight. Since then I never have two separate broody hens with access to each other's nests. If a second hen goes broody I put her in the broody buster and break her from being broody. With this happening to you on day 18 I wonder if this is what is going on.

How thick are the eggshells? When hens are entering a nest to lay an egg or leaving after laying an egg they often walk on any eggs there. If the eggshells are normal thickness this is no problem but if they are too thin they can break. That usually looks like a claw punched a hole in the egg but it can be a lot worse. If this only happens on day 18 then this is not your problem.

Second problem the ones that got stood on as I number them two days ago all had dark jiggly egg white as I rotate the egg around and chick wasn’t really moving but dark water was moving so not sure if the hens knew the chicks had died.
The last 4 eggs are very dark and no dark watery moving around inside and I always leave them in “egg coop lockdown” from today.

I never candle eggs under a broody hen. I generally leave all of my eggs in the nest until the hatch is over. Some never start to develop, some have chicks that died at various stages of development. My hens do not kick out defective eggs during incubation and they do not open defective eggs during incubation. I read about this stuff on here a lot. I'm sure some people are seeing stuff but I just don't understand it. I think something else is going on other than a hen rejecting a defective egg.

Extra question last time on day 21 one chick started to pip right as I was locking them up for the night (2 had already hatched fine that day) so I left it to hatch naturally well in the morning it had zipped and died in the egg. What did I do wrong?

Probably nothing. If you deal with living animals you occasionally have to deal with dead animals. That's just the way life works.

 

[jessvolvochick]

So update I had a chick hatch two days after that post and then next day another pipped so I peeled off shell helping it and my son said he found it two hours later fully hatched dead. I was so sad four in one week total. There are two left to hatch in the next few days so any tips please would be great. I don’t have a back up incubator but my other batch of eggs have 14 days left and I’m looking into getting one for them right now and separating the hen and eggs from all the other chickens tomorrow in case I don’t get one in time.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

When your eggs hatch on different days, one problem you have is the hen has to take the early hatchlings off the nest to go feed them and teach them how to be chickens. This means the remaining eggs get neglected and cold and typically do not hatch. That's why it's important to gather eggs until you have as many as you want to hatch, date and mark them, and give them to the hen all at once, so they all hatch together and you don't have what's called a staggered hatch. Every day check to make sure no other hens laid any eggs in her nest and if they did, take them out. Take out any unmarked eggs. I use a fat Sharpie and draw a circle all the way around the ones I want to hatch so I can identify them easily.

 

[jessvolvochick]

Thanks for all the replies yes the one we are waiting two days for is because there were three that slipped through for a few days before I realised as I let my kids collect some eggs taking turns and just got missed and I left it after that as it is from my one white hen and I wanted some variation. But I am also giving the other egg a few extra days till 24 to hatch and w usually always put them under from the same lay date and I usually number them and candle them and video so I can refresh if they were fertile from the start and how dark the spot was at the start

 

[gullinkambe]

So update I had a chick hatch two days after that post and then next day another pipped so I peeled off shell helping it and my son said he found it two hours later fully hatched dead.

Probably not what happened here, but beware that chicks aren't ready to come out of their eggs once they externally pip. The next stage then is for the chick to absorb the yolk. This can take quite a few hours. It's still "stuck" to the egg by a string, like an umbilical cord.
If it's removed from the egg before the yolk is absorbed (by us helping, other chicks being too rambunctious etc), it can create much damage. I learned that the hard way...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think I read somewhere that it can take up to 48 hours from pip to hatch? Is that right? I think @gullinkambe hatches, let's ask them. Oh, another one that hatches is @KF0002 maybe they know.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I think I read somewhere that it can take up to 48 hours from pip to hatch? Is that right? I think @gullinkambe hatches, let's ask them. Oh, another one that hatches is @KF0002 maybe they know.

I personally have not had a chick under a broody hen successfully take 48 hours to hatch. Usually my hens start hatching on day 19 or 20 with little peeps by the end of 20. By the end of 21, what is going to hatch has hatched. Any egg left, I leave until the hen gets up and moves the hatchling peeps. Assuming same set date, which I work hard to insure, I've never had a live chick left in the nest. I've had plenty of dud eggs with quitters, an egg full of putrid slush, or a dead fully formed chick.

When I've artificially incubated eggs, which has been only a couple of times, I have had some longer hatches usually because you've got a shrink wrap situation due to low humidity. I have taken slow eggs from the broody hen to incubate, but I've had poor success. The chicks that finally hatched were malformed due to neck bones fusing in the fetal position, common when a chick takes too long. They lived a couple of days then died.

So typically hatching takes 12 to 24 hours. Helping usually is not productive because it is a very complicated process where the act of hatching actually finishes the chick as the pushing against the shell helps close the abdominal cavity.

My philosophy, over 15 years of hatching and building my flock, is don't help, let mother nature and the hen handle it. The only time I intervene is if I've had outside interference such as a skunk raid and it's a "Hail Mary" attempt to save something of the fiasco.... generally with little success other than cold eggs are amazingly hardy and I have hatched from that situation, though generally at a reduced success rate, generally 50% rate.

My experience.

LofMc

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you!