HELP!! SO WIERD. A miracle/mystery chick???

[SophiaChick]

I need everyone to hep us figure out what is going on, its soooo weird.....

Here is what is happening. Our hen sat upon 10 eggs, 7 hatched and 3 did not. This was 3 days ago.

When my daughter and I walked in to check on mama and her babies we were startled to find what looks to be a newly hatched chick. (still wet and unfluffed) lying in the middle of the coop, chirping away! I gently scooped up the chick and gave it to our hen, she just looked at it and spoke to it in her chicken language.

We looked and looked but could not find any egg shells anywhere.

Where did this baby come from? Is it possible our hen had a live birth?

Its CRAZY! 3 days later a random new baby chick just appears in the coop?!?!?!

 

[Choco Maran]

The other chicken may have eat the shell. A live birth is unheard of in chickens. Only mammals have live births.

 

[gwhite1597]

We had some bantams that we let hatch some eggs and we never found the shells for about three of the five. We've fed our Rhode Island Red hens shells before so we figured they ate the shells. I imagine that it's the equivalent to a human mother eating the placenta. Source of protein and whatnot. So don't worry, you're not alone and yes a chicken will eat egg shells, and i don't think it's possible for a chicken to have a live birth.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

It isn't possible for a chicken to have a live birth, but some strange things can happen. I've had eggs get buried in the nest boxes (essentially lost) hatch and I've read posts here where eggs have been thrown in the compost or trash and still hatched!

 

[SophiaChick]

This is all well and makes sense but the math does not add up. My hen went broody on one unfertilized egg. I went to my friends house and got 10 fertilized eggs. I removed the unfertilized egg and placed all 10 fertilized eggs under her. 7 chicks hatched from the 10 eggs, 3 were left and were thrown away. 7(chicks)+3(duds)=10

I went back yesterday with my husband to inspect the coop and we did find what appeared to be a soft shell, it looked like the end of a white latex balloon and smelt of rotten egg.

Is it possible that the egg could have been fertilized inside her while the egg was developing and she never layed it because she went broody? And that possibly the chick developed inside her and after the initial hatch she layed this new random chick?

This poor thing is being pecked at and had a raw open sore on the side of its head. I have removed it and put it under a heat lamp and treated it.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

This is all well and makes sense but the math does not add up. My hen went broody on one unfertilized egg. I went to my friends house and got 10 fertilized eggs. I removed the unfertilized egg and placed all 10 fertilized eggs under her. 7 chicks hatched from the 10 eggs, 3 were left and were thrown away. 7(chicks)+3(duds)=10

I went back yesterday with my husband to inspect the coop and we did find what appeared to be a soft shell, it looked like the end of a white latex balloon and smelt of rotten egg.

Is it possible that the egg could have been fertilized inside her while the egg was developing and she never layed it because she went broody? And that possibly the chick developed inside her and after the initial hatch she layed this new random chick?

This poor thing is being pecked at and had a raw open sore on the side of its head. I have removed it and put it under a heat lamp and treated it.

No, it isn't possible that she laid a chick. One of the duds obviously wasn't a dud. Maybe the one the chick hatched from rolled somewhere else out of the nest, hatched, and a fresh egg was laid that you thought was one of the ten was thrown away instead...weird things happen. Hope the little guy recovers from the wound!

Do you have a rooster?

 

[SophiaChick]

With the 7 hatched chicks and the 3 duds. We now have 8 hatched chicks and 3 duds That makes 11!

I am not kidding, the new random chick was in the middle of the coop all cover in yolk by the water bowl! I understand the possibility of a egg rolling away and hatching but how could that be the case?

Oh..... maybe it is?? MAYBE there were twins in one egg? Could that explain the soft shell we found? Can it be a shell inside the shell of twins?

and yes we do have a rooster.

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

With the 7 hatched chicks and the 3 duds. We now have 8 hatched chicks and 3 duds That makes 11!

I am not kidding, the new random chick was in the middle of the coop all cover in yolk by the water bowl! I understand the possibility of a egg rolling away and hatching but how could that be the case?

Oh..... maybe it is?? MAYBE there were twins in one egg? Could that explain the soft shell we found? Can it be a shell inside the shell of twins?

and yes we do have a rooster.

I guess it is possible, but why would you find it (the chick) days later - still wet? Maybe it hatched late. Now, since you have a rooster, it is possible that another hen laid this egg with the mystery chick somewhere warm and it hatched. This is weird! lol

 

[SophiaChick]

Nope, she is the only hen with eggs at the moment. It is very weird!

I keep telling my self to let it go and not worry about it. But my brain wont let me, I stayed up all night trying to figure out the logic in it.

I hope he survives, poor thing looks like he has a neck brace on.

 

[drumstick diva]

are all your hens the same breed? Otherwise I would think maybe you could figure out the mama by the color of this chick (black)