Help egg pipped and now starting to zip but Momma has moved on.

[PaulRaye]

So our little hen has hatched 5 of her six eggs over the last two days and has moved with her new chicks. However the last egg has pipped and started to zip. My wife is keeping the egg worm with her body heat but what do we do now? Its starting to hatch. We don't have an incubator and I'm not sure how to keep it warm and safe while it hatches. Any suggestions?

Thank you,
Paul

 

[nchls school]

By now the chick has hatched, hopefully. In situations like this I take the first chicks away from the hen so she broods what is left. After all have hatched I return the chicks to the hen and all is well.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I agree it is best to take chicks away to give hen a chance to finish the hatch.

 

[PaulRaye]

Interesting, I'll try that next time.

The chick in the egg is going strong, starting to zip. It started to get dark so the hen and chicks returned to the nest. I slipped the egg back in and covered the create with a towel.

Hoping to have the last chick in the morning. I'm keep you posted.

Thank you,
Paul

 

[PaulRaye]

Hatched and happy!

 

[nchls school]

Great!! What kind of chickens are they? The hen look like one of my serama.

 

[PaulRaye]

The Mom is a young Serama, just started laying herself. The eggs are from a mixed backyard flock near by, I can't have a rooster where I am. It will be fun to see what they turn out to be.

Paul

 

[nchls school]

The Mom is a young Serama, just started laying herself. The eggs are from a mixed backyard flock near by, I can't have a rooster where I am. It will be fun to see what they turn out to be.

Paul

I thought the hen might be serama. What age was she when she started to lay eggs?

 

[PaulRaye]

I didn't get her as a chick but the lady I got from said she was around 5 months old. She started laying around a month later and went broody a month after that. I got another serama hen at the same time, that should be around the same age, that has yet to lay an egg.

I imaging this one's babies are going to out grow her very quickly

Paul

 

[nchls school]

I'll bet they do. My frizzle hatched and raised Japanese bantam chicks. At two months they are almost as big as the hen.