Hatching with 2 broodies

[Sonya9]

I need some help from experienced hatchers.
This egg is from my broody who hatched 2 eggs yesterday. This one has looked like this since last night. The chick is alive and chirping but I lost one yesterday that looked similar to this. It was dead and halfway out of the shell. Looked like the mama was trying to help the other one to get out because she was pecking and removing the shell. This does not look right to me.
Any advice?
Marie

So the chick in this shell is alive, and two from the same clutch hatched yesterday? I would prepare to assist the hatch here, get a pair of tweezers and start lifting away a tiny bit of shell, check for blood. At this point if their is no blood but their IS chirping I say the chick needs to come out asap. The little guy could be wrapped in a membrane or in an awkward position and be unable to get out. When you start to open the shell do it the way the chick would, just carefully unzip around the wider section.

If the membrane does bleed (probably pretty unlikely at this point) and in you have an incubator in the house, or some other way to keep the egg warm, I would put the cracked in the incubator for a day and then try again tomorrow.

Then put the chick under the broody and keep an eye on things to make sure she doesn't attack the baby as a stranger. Don't let her "see the chick" just put the chick under her with the others.

 

[Sonya9]

Well it appears that the broodies and I are not destined to raise chicks. Yesterday there were two, the cockerel and the pullet, this morning the chickens were upset and the cockerel is GONE. No feathers, no sign of a fight, just gone. He was in the coop with the broody in the nest box when I locked it up for the night.

I cannot for the life of me figure out how a snake got in!!! Even if a smallish snake managed to get IN around the door I can't see how it could POSSIBLY get out after having swallowed the little roo! The chickens are once again terrified of the coop! Grrrrr!

I think I am going to need to start crating the broody and her chick at night and keep them in the house until this is figured out.

Video of the broody and the two chicks as of yesterday eating some egg, the darker chick with the red comb is the little cockerel. If it looks fuzzy change the youtube settings to HD, the video is very crisp:

 

[16 paws]

Yes, Sonya, I would also crate the mama and pullet and bring them in. I am so sorry to hear this. This has been a rough go for you. Great big hugs are going your way right now. I hope you get the matter figured out.
Sorry for the loss....

Marie

 

[16 paws]

So the chick in this shell is alive, and two from the same clutch hatched yesterday? I would prepare to assist the hatch here, get a pair of tweezers and start lifting away a tiny bit of shell, check for blood. At this point if their is no blood but their IS chirping I say the chick needs to come out asap. The little guy could be wrapped in a membrane or in an awkward position and be unable to get out. When you start to open the shell do it the way the chick would, just carefully unzip around the wider section.

If the membrane does bleed (probably pretty unlikely at this point) and in you have an incubator in the house, or some other way to keep the egg warm, I would put the cracked in the incubator for a day and then try again tomorrow.

Then put the chick under the broody and keep an eye on things to make sure she doesn't attack the baby as a stranger. Don't let her "see the chick" just put the chick under her with the others.

I did not see your post in time and this is what happened. You were right!

At 10:30 last night I still did not know what to do so I made an executive decision, I got a flashlight and went down to the coop. There was no one awake to help me and I really felt like this little one was not going to make it out of the shell alive after trying to hatch for way over 24 hours. I was shaking and trying to hold onto the flashlight and the egg at the same time.Let me just add right here a little side note,
Yesterday afternoon I was at home depot looking at wood and this huge shelf fell on my toe. No one touched it, it just fell. I did not know until today that I broke my toe. I am fifty nine years old and never broke a bone. But more on that later, back to the story.
Don't ask me how I did this! Feels like something just took over and guided my hands. I knew it was still breathing because I could see the body contracting and expanding. . I could not see the beak and I could not figure out which part of the body I was looking at. So I proceeded very slowly and started breaking off little pieces of the shell. Every time a piece would come off the chick would move real good so I knew it had some life left in it. I put it back under mama and let it rest for about an hour or two.
Then I went back down and took a small little dish of warm water and some q-tips. I slowly broke off a bit more shell and I could see the chick struggling to try and come out. I took a little water and used the q-tip to apply it to the chicks membrane. I did this a few times.

That did the trick!

That little chick gave a huge push and half of its body came out of the shell!

Wow I feel so blessed to be able to feel and witness that in my hands.
I am still excited about it.

But I also knew this was not over yet. I thought maybe the chick was weak and would not live overnight, but I decided to put her back under mama and said a prayer. Went to check in the morning right before hobbling into work and was running very late so I did not have time to lift up Pancake and see what happened. To tell you the truth I was very worried I was going to find a dead chick under her. I have made the mistake before of putting weak chicks under mama and it has never turned out good.

Went to work, boss said I needed to go to the Dr. Just got back and guess what?
A perfectly cute little yellow fluff ball was chirping away!!!

Sorry this post is so long but I really feel like this may help someone out there if they run into something like this. Remember the egg was not pipped, just cracked , so that is why I felt there was a problem.
Ok, enough for now.
Stay tuned for pictures and maybe someone can help me think of an appropriate name for this special little one.

Love happy endings...
Marie

 

[Sonya9]

That little chick gave a huge push and half of its body came out of the shell!

Wow I feel so blessed to be able to feel and witness that in my hands.
I am still excited about it.

Congrats!!! So glad you saved the little chick! And yes it is an amazing feeling when they pop out of the shell in your hand! A couple of name suggestions, Felice if it is a girl, and Felix or Faust if it is a boy (all mean good fortune).

 

[Sonya9]

No big news here (thank God!!!). Broody and chick spent the night in a covered cat carrier in my kitchen. Broody wasn't too happy with the idea at first, but the little pullet was happy as a clam as long as her mama was with her, she was like "Woo hoo we're going camping!". We will stick to that routine for a while.

The original goal with this hatch was to add a couple of little roo's to the flock. That has not worked out but I decided I am getting a rooster anyway. There is a rather sad looking game cock for sale nearby (a lady bought him out of pity at an auction a month ago, and then realized game cocks don't get along with other roosters when she tried to introduce him to her flock).

This guy needs a home and I might as well get a rooster that can offer the hens some protection (these guys are often fiercely protective of their harem). As an added benefit I expect he will be quite beautiful/colorful after he gets a new coat of shiny feathers. Pic of the roo below, he isn't huge which will also be good, I don't want my hens to go bald. Pic below is from the for sale ad, will pic him up today:

 

[16 paws]

No big news here (thank God!!!). Broody and chick spent the night in a covered cat carrier in my kitchen. Broody wasn't too happy with the idea at first, but the little pullet was happy as a clam as long as her mama was with her, she was like "Woo hoo we're going camping!". We will stick to that routine for a while.

The original goal with this hatch was to add a couple of little roo's to the flock. That has not worked out but I decided I am getting a rooster anyway. There is a rather sad looking game cock for sale nearby (a lady bought him out of pity at an auction a month ago, and then realized game cocks don't get along with other roosters when she tried to introduce him to her flock).

This guy needs a home and I might as well get a rooster that can offer the hens some protection (these guys are often fiercely protective of their harem). As an added benefit I expect he will be quite beautiful/colorful after he gets a new coat of shiny feathers. Pic of the roo below, he isn't huge which will also be good, I don't want my hens to go bald. Pic below is from the for sale ad, will pic him up today:

He is handsome, good for you for giving him a good home. How many hens will he be over?
Lol on the going camping, that is so cute...

 

[Sonya9]

He will be over two full sized hens (bigger than he is).

He looks better than his pic now, his feathers are mostly regrown except the tail. He is VERY afraid of humans though, freaking out if you get near him afraid, we are working on that, he is currently in his own small pen next to the coop.

The Buff Orpington hen started out grazing near his pen, then the sweet quiet murmers began, then she freaking squatted outside of the fence for him! Lordy! Needless to say he is more than a bit enthused to be here with hens begging for his attention.

I want him to watch the routine here before setting him loose, mostly for the chick's sake, though at this point I seriously doubt if he is thinking about anything other than the Buff. LOL.

 

[Cheryl1948]

Can someone out there tell me if I messed up?

My Buff is broody again for the 4th time in her first yr. She has never had any eggs to hatch. I only have hens. So, I decided to get some fertile eggs to place under her so she could hatch some babies. I found a man in town who was willing to give me six eggs and he will take the chicks once they hatch. (I just don't need anymore right now. Fourteen is enough for me)

When I picked up the eggs today, they were filthy with egg yolk and poop on them. So, when I came home, before putting the eggs under my hen, I dampened a cloth and wiped the poop and egg yolk off of the them as good as possible without getting them too wet.

Did I ruin the eggs? I will be candling them in about 8 days. I am hoping I didn't do the wrong thing.

Thanks.

 

[16 paws]

Can someone out there tell me if I messed up?

My Buff is broody again for the 4th time in her first yr. She has never had any eggs to hatch. I only have hens. So, I decided to get some fertile eggs to place under her so she could hatch some babies. I found a man in town who was willing to give me six eggs and he will take the chicks once they hatch. (I just don't need anymore right now. Fourteen is enough for me)

When I picked up the eggs today, they were filthy with egg yolk and poop on them. So, when I came home, before putting the eggs under my hen, I dampened a cloth and wiped the poop and egg yolk off of the them as good as possible without getting them too wet.

Did I ruin the eggs? I will be candling them in about 8 days. I am hoping I didn't do the wrong thing.

Thanks.

I think they should be fine. Myself, I would just go with it and candle them at 7 days.
Good luck
marie