HELP! Chick hatched early. Hen abandoned eggs.

[rnf1981]

I have a chick that hatched on day 16! Very curious how this could have happened. All 12 were put under her at same time. Got them from a guy who said all were laid within a week. ANYWAY! On day 18 currently. This happened when I was out of town. Mom said every time she came by she was mothering the chick and not on the eggs. Just candled and some (maybe all) are alive. Should I just leave them out there and hope she’s sitting on them enough? It’s very humid and been at a heat index of 100+ this week. OR should I try to put them under a heat lamp with a wet towel over them? I don’t have an incubator.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Good luck, hopefully someone else will have advice for you

 

[MROO]

Where are you located? If you're in the US, you probably have an Agricultural Extension Center in your County. They usually lend out incubators to local schools. Schools are mostly out of session for the summer, now, or at least past the Spring hatching projects, so they probably have them in house, now. Most Ag Ext offices will loan out the extras - and brooders, too. If you have a brooder at home, or can set one up, you may want to take the new baby away and shut Mama in a kennel with the eggs, in hopes she will set again ... but that doesn't always work. If it does, you will probably be able to add the baby back in once he others hatch. And your egg supplier was probably mistaken, or maybe just fooled by a mama who laid eggs in someone else's already started nest. Eggs may hatch a day or two off in either direction, but I've never known one to hatch a whole week early!

 

[MROO]

And I almost forgot - Search here on BYC for a homemade incubator. You can put one together very cheaply, sometimes with things you already have around the house. And it doesn't have to be fancy, after all, you only need it for a week.
Good Luck! And Keep us posted!

 

[rnf1981]

Where are you located? If you're in the US, you probably have an Agricultural Extension Center in your County. They usually lend out incubators to local schools. Schools are mostly out of session for the summer, now, or at least past the Spring hatching projects, so they probably have them in house, now. Most Ag Ext offices will loan out the extras - and brooders, too. If you have a brooder at home, or can set one up, you may want to take the new baby away and shut Mama in a kennel with the eggs, in hopes she will set again ... but that doesn't always work. If it does, you will probably be able to add the baby back in once he others hatch. And your egg supplier was probably mistaken, or maybe just fooled by a mama who laid eggs in someone else's already started nest. Eggs may hatch a day or two off in either direction, but I've never known one to hatch a whole week early!

And I almost forgot - Search here on BYC for a homemade incubator. You can put one together very cheaply, sometimes with things you already have around the house. And it doesn't have to be fancy, after all, you only need it for a week.
Good Luck! And Keep us posted!

THANK YOU!

 

[cloudy1966]

Well, hens usually make their choice: baby chick versus eggs that still need incubation. I had it the other way around: my silkie momS (yes: 2 of them) decided to get back on the eggs and left their 2 newbies on the ground by themselves. As for the purchased eggs: with temperatures you describe it is not unusual that they start to develop without a hen sitting on them. So of course they will hatch on different days. That's why mother nature has designed chicks to be able to survive 3 days with no food or water after hatching.
I wouldn't do the wet towel thing, it might just suffocate who ever tries to hatch. But if you can't find an incubator to borrow quickly, try to lock up Mama, baby and eggs in a cage, with food and water. If they don't have a large area to move around they usually decide to go back to sitting – and the baby will be close.

 

[Susan12]

I bought a cheap incubator at the feed store.it works great. I paid like around 40 dollars.its lasted for years.

 

[featherhead007]

I have a chick that hatched on day 16! Very curious how this could have happened. All 12 were put under her at same time. Got them from a guy who said all were laid within a week. ANYWAY! On day 18 currently. This happened when I was out of town. Mom said every time she came by she was mothering the chick and not on the eggs. Just candled and some (maybe all) are alive. Should I just leave them out there and hope she’s sitting on them enough? It’s very humid and been at a heat index of 100+ this week. OR should I try to put them under a heat lamp with a wet towel over them? I don’t have an incubator.

these things happen with chickens you are doing great! keep it up.

 

[rnf1981]

Update:
Two chicks hatched overnight in my makeshift incubator and one has pecked through today. Put the first two out with her this morning. Not sure how she’s taking to them. Pecked at them at first but seems to have quit that. It’s hotter than the hinges of Hell’s gates here in Eastern NC so I’m hoping they’ll survive whether she pays them much attention or not. Thanks so much for all the help!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]