I've had my gamehen and polish hatch eggs out before, usually they had their nests hidden so I only got to experience the chicks. Finally my silkies decided to sit down and brood. My two colored silkies have turned this into a nightmare. I've found a partially hatched chick a few days ago, dead. This morning I found another dried chick, also dead. It was a small miracle when I found a chick alive. I took her out (she was already out of her shell) and noticed that there was something sticking to her butt. I think it's the tail end of the yolk sac mixed with some debri. I'm keeping it moist and cleaned off some of the debri that came loose with moisture. But from what I've read so far, her chances don't look good. Is there anything I can do to up her chances? Second, I have an egg (from the same nest) that is moving and peeping, but no pepping. Should I leave it be? This being from the same nest I'm wondering if the mother is leaving the nest or not supplying enough moisture, etc. I've moved the rest from that nest in with my three year old silkies nests. They've adopted eggs before and have hatched several healthy chicks this year. They've seem to have taken them no problem.
What day are you on? My broody stopped taking care of her eggs too. Today was day 24 and I helped the last chick out by picking the shell with a pair of tweezers. I heard the chirping and felt it wiggling. If you're closer to day 21 and you have another hen that will sit on the egg that might be the best thing to do though. Just keep an eye on it and if nothing happens soon you could try the tweezer method. Only 7 of my 11 would have lived if I hadn't intervened a little.
