help please, i think I've killed a chick

[tracy 5447]

hi, my silkie is sitting on 6 eggs, day 19 and i checked then earlier and one egg was cracked all the way round and looked grey under the crack. its our first time and didn't know what to do so we left it for a few hours and went back to check and the egg had a horrid smell. we thought it cracked because of gasses or something so my husband threw it in a unused field to dispose of it, then i asked him to go back to check and it looked almost like a fully formed chick to me and i am gutted.Did i kill it or was the smell an indicator that it was dead already and was going off? please let the latter be true as i would be very upset the other eggs have no cracks and are looking ..well just like eggs. the hen kept kicking one egg out and i now wonder if this was the one.
thanks in advance

 

[spotsplus]

A live chick in the egg doesn't smell so if you got a stinky one it probably died a day or few days ago.

 

[tracy 5447]

thank you for your reply, i was feeling quite sad as its my first time ( and my silkies too) at this and wanted to get it right, and the thought of disposing of a live chick would be awful. hopefully the other eggs hatch in the next few days.
thanks again

 

[Suzie]

Silkie chickens seem to have an instinct for any egg that is not "quite right"..any egg that smells bad to us is something that they will abandon...believe me..I have had Silkie's for many years and they will throw out any eggs that they are not totally happy with...

Concentrate now on your new arrivals..they will give you so much joy...please post some pictures of your forthcoming baby Silkie chicks!

 

[tracy 5447]

hi,
thanks for the advice. the silkie is still happily sitting away and its day 21 with no sign of life as yet. i will be keeping a close eye on them as i am rather excited.
she is not sitting on her own eggs but some bantam sulmtalers that i acquired by accident as i thought i bought silkies but there was a mix up at the sale. but hopefully they have a good hatch rate
how long should it take after today roughly? say nothing happened for another 3 or 4 days then does that mean there is no life in them?
i did candle them at day 17 but as a complete novice i didn't really know what i was looking for.it was just a dark mass with a light area at the top, i assume this is ok?

 

[Suzie]

Sounds perfectly normal...the light area is the air sac...

Some chicks make a chirping sound a day or so before they hatch...the Mother hen also makes clucking noises to encourage her chicks to hatch...with luck you will have some fluffy chicks for Easter Monday if not before!

Keep us updated please!

 

[tracy 5447]

hi, we have chicks!
one was late saturday night and another one today (tuesday)
they are so cute.
i am worried though at the gap between the hatching. the first chick hasn't eaten yet as mother hasn't hatched all of her eggs yet, she still has 2 more to go, should i feed the older chick as the mother shows no signs of moving off the eggs. i think only 1 egg has a chick in it but not too sure, when i candled them at day 18 one egg didn't seen as dark as the others but i was too scared to dispose of it in case it was live.
so what should i do? feed the chick or leave alone? is 3 or 4 or 5 days the limit for hatching times?
Thanks in advance

 

[Suzie]

Saturday chick needs feed...only put starter feed in with the Mother now...she will eat and encourage the other chicks to start eating....the Mother will abandon any unhatched eggs within the next day or so..her interest will be her chicks...she will likely kick the eggs aside and ignore them..

Congratulations!

 

[tracy 5447]

thank you Suzie

i put some chick starter in when the first one was hatched and a bowl with pebbles and water. she might be feeding her when i am not around as the chick looks great, very lively! i took chick over to the feed and she didn't do anything, i think thats why i was worried, i just gave it (rightly or wrongly) a tiny taste of warm sugary water and the chick loved it but it was a tiny amount. i think i will just leave them to get on with it and resist the urge to check every half an hour. it is so hard not knowing whats going on under the hen, she hides her secret well1

 

[bobbi-j]

As hard as it is, it's really best if you can leave the hen alone for a day or two once hatching begins. Some hens get agitated when they're bothered, and may accidentally end up killing hatched or hatching chicks.