Long story short.. We set some Orpington eggs under our Orpy hen on the 21st of October, Ended up with only 4 viable eggs by day 13 when I last candled them, Which was a bit guttering, We thought they had all hatched yesterday, Which was the 21st here. I just went out to tidy up her nest and make sure they were all doing well. Picked her up to find one dead chick Not sure how but it was only half out of its shell when it died, With its head out. There was one egg that looked like it must be dead, So I picked it up to get rid of and then saw it had a pip, Put it to my ear and could hear the little thing cheeping away inside the egg. Now I'm really worried, Is this chick going to hatch or is there anything I can do? I'm worried I might have ruined its chances now that I've touched it as well, It doesn't seem to be making much effort though. What do I do? :/
Put the egg back under mom and let it hatch. Chicks can take up to 24 hours or more to hatch from pip to finish. No need to worry yet! It sounds like the little one's doing quite fine.
The one that is dead. Mom may have killed it. Broody's are supposed to know what they are doing but I am not convinced they all do. I had a broody that I watched accidently step on and squish a baby. After 3 dead babies we have not let her brood again. She was a great sitter, she was great once they got their feet under them, very protective and watchful. But during the hatch she didn't seem to understand they couldn't just move with her or out of her way and she stepped on and squished them.
Yeah I think she did squash it, Its her first hatch so isn't too surprising. The two that hatched out first are doing great! I put the one that was having trouble back straight away, Just went out now and she's now given up and left the nest. The one I put back died, Looks like it couldn't move around, It got its head out put couldn't get any further, And there is another that was left, It is half out but seems to have given up? It's still very much alive and I'm keeping it warm at the moment, But it has it's eyes closed.. Ive given it water and I am waiting for the sugar water to call down to give to it. I'm not willing to just give up and watch it die, Although I know that's probably what's going to happen.