hatching on day 24? good grief way to scare mama!

[technodoll]

My sweet silkie hen Blossom has been hard at work sitting on those eggs since March 9th - I was beginning to despair when nothing was even pipping on day 21, nothing on day 22, then one pip and one chick on day 23... and now on day 24 we have five beautiful babies and the last two eggs have pipped!

Talk about late-comers!

But very much worth the wait

So it is normal for eggs to hatch so late when under a hen??

 

[RGWright]

Congrats on the new chicks!

It's possible that the air around the eggs were a bit colder then normal during the incubation of the eggs by the hen. This is a common issue during the early parts of spring, when you can't control the drafts near the eggs. Setting up a better nest box will help assure this doesn't happen. Again, congrats on the new chicks!

 

[technodoll]

ah, yes the poor girl had a bit of trouble keeping warm even in a draft-free condo with warm lamp... but she did good, she did real good