Help, shell broke, chick still alive

[Kim95037]

Ive heard that sometimes a hen will kill a chick if it looks like its not going to survive. Wow what a bummer. Im about to lose another chick to infectious bronchitis I think .Sorry for your loss, hope the rest hatch ok!

 

[redmouse]

I've had broodys do that, but I always take the crushed egg away because nearly all of them peck at the red bloody bit and kill the chick if left.

I've successfully hatched out crushed eggs down my front (which was tricky, but worked! Had to get used to doing everything one handed for a day) and also under a heat lamp with a bit of damp kitchen paper next to the egg.

Sorry little egg didn't make it, fingers crossed for the rest of the hatch

 

[satay]

Did anymore hatch for you?

 

[HighNDryFarm]

I have 7 so far. She's still dedicated to the eggs though. I can tell she was out scratching around today but don't know if the chicks followed. The egg after the crushed egg was also crushed but half as bad and it hatched. I had one hatched but dead with the egg still attached to the bottom. Thanks for asking!

 

[satay]

So glad you got some chicks to hatch and she is being a good mum

 

[HighNDryFarm]

So glad you got some chicks to hatch and she is being a good mum

She is a good mom. She's a bit more aggressive now that she has the chicks. She wasn't biting me before but is now! But I can get her to stop and pick up the chicks.

I have 5 Polish eggs under another EE broodie. Those should start to hatch any day. My poor broodie in the hay barn hasn't had any luck. I clean up rotten eggs everyday and the one that pipped and was chirping nice and loud got left out from under her all day when I cleaned the mess and moved the nest just about a foot over....she moved back and brought most of the eggs with her....but not the one with a chick in it!

I don't know if she'll get any. I'm going to take some developing eggs from the other girls and give them to her if she doesn't hatch anything today.

Thanks for the support!

 

[satay]

Hey your welcome sounds like your doing a great job . How exciting for you that you are gunna have a lot of new babies soon. Post some pictures if you can as i love to see new babies. I have eggs in the incubator right now that I am hatching for someone else. Geese eggs(theirs) and runner eggs from my ducks. Runners turned out not to be fertile but the geese are doing ok so far.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

An update...ended up with 13 Polish chicks so she did very well, 4 of those were hatched by one of my EE hens.

The bad news is I have another broody that is hatching and she has 4 chicks. Overnight one hatched and another started and AGAIN the shell got stepped on and squashed! The chick has peeped a few times but instead of leaving it with mom like I did last time I brought it in the house, put it in a box with a light, a bowl of water with a sponge and a warm, wet paper towel to keep the membrane from drying out. The shell is missing in some places and now, completely cracked all around but the membrane is in tact. I'm keeping the temp around 95. Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for the help last time and this time!

 

[satay]

Sounds to me like your doing all you can. I hope this little one makes it out ok for you.

 

[ch33ky]

Ok, to anyone that comes across this issue. Firstly you now responsible for completely hatching this chick as it be very unlikely that it can get out of the shell due to the shell drying around it. You want to get one fresh egg of similar size to shell, break it open so you can encase this broken chick inside it and leaving the gap so it can still breath, so if you can locate it's beak this is a great starting point. As there is blood in the membrane of the shell the chick needs more time, maybe 10-24 hours more.

You can now choose to put it back under the mother, this is a good idea however you will need to check on her regularly but try not to disturb her. If you don't think this is a good idea and you don't have access to a heat light than use a hot water bottle and a small box and ensure your hot water bottle has a cover over it. Put your hand on the bottle and hold it there for as long as you can to determine if you the chick on the bottle if it is going to be too hot which will just cook the chick, wait until the bottle is a lovely heat that can help keep chick cosy. Put hot water bottle with cover on it into a box, put chick on the covered hot water bottle (mine is covered in a sheepskin type cover and fluffy). Now put something light on top of the chick like a cotton t-shirt.

Chick should be happy chirping away. I had to do this with my chick as when the mum squashed her she still had bit more of the yoke in the shell, I repaired the shell put it back under mum, went out for a few hours came back checked on chick and chick was still good alive but the shell had started to stink. I figured this was not healthy for the chick and I'd have to look at hatching this chick over the next few hours so I took it to the water bottle. Than as the membrane had started to dry on chick it was too tight for the chick to move, so I took a cotton towel and warm water and removed the top of the shell the large bit where the chick is normally placed. Chick was really sleepy so I just put it back under the t-shirt to keep her warm. Than after about an hour I slowly peeled the bottom of her shell. YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL as her little umbilical cord can if stuck to the shell pull out her insides, so you will need to cut this cord with sharp scissor. When the cord is cut just let her sleep for as long as you possibly can. You want her to belly button to dry up and her to gain her strength. Try not to touch her too much as you want the mum to accept her when you take her back. The mum will know if she wants her or not pretty much straight away. If she doesn't well you now have a little chick on your hands.

In my case I had tried to let her absorb as much of the egg as I possible could without her getting poisoned from the overwhelming stanch (I assume that was possible). It worked brilliantly and she is a very happy little chirping bird. This process took me 10 hours, however I have had to in the past leave the bird over night with mumma and get up first thing in the morning to get that little bird out of there.