Hen abandoned remaining eggs; had to help chick with difficult hatch

[Lokale90]

I had 1 chick hatch yesterday & like clockwork my hen wanted nothing to do with it once hatched. I removed the chick so she would not kill it as it looked like it was heading that way. She went back to sitting on the remaining eggs & that was that. By the time the 2nd chick hatched she was already over it before it even had a chance to dry. There were still a few eggs left at this point but she had already decided she was over it & went to sit on my other broody hen’s nest while she had gotten up to eat, get water, etc. I noticed one of the eggs had started to hatch but seemed to come to a halt; I didn’t hear any peeps coming from it & the membrane was a dried out milky white. I couldn’t get her to sit on the egg so I felt like I needed to act quick. I don’t have an incubator so I had to get the membrane moist again using a warm damp rag as well as a handheld humidifier type thing. It wasn’t an easy hatch, it took quite a bit of time & I really had to aid the chick in hatching. I’ve never done this before & there is a chance I may be the reason behind this, unfortunately. It has now been a couple of hours & the baby chick still isn’t completely dry & fluffed up, it doesn’t seem to be able to stand up or support its neck. I’m not sure how long this takes or if this is what wry neck is. I’m afraid the chick won’t make it. Is there anything I can do to help the wry neck if that is what it is/save this baby chick.

 

[Katie386]

I’m waiting for someone else to respond to this but all I know is when a baby hatches its very tired and can’t walk right away it usually stays under a hen to keep warm and dry off and will gain it’s footing eventually. Where are the other chicks? Will the other broody hen accept them? If so put all the chicks under her.

 

[Lokale90]

I’m waiting for someone else to respond to this but all I know is when a baby hatches its very tired and can’t walk right away it usually stays under a hen to keep warm and dry off and will gain it’s footing eventually. Where are the other chicks? Will the other broody hen accept them? If so put all the chicks under her.

The other broody hen has eggs that she is sitting on & because of the way the other hen was with the hatched chicks, I was afraid to put them under the other one. The other 2 are in their own area with a heater & are doing great. I’ve had the one I helped hatch with me for most of the day. I’ve been keeping it against my bare neck with a scarf over the chick to help hold it against me when I need to use my hands.

 

[Lokale90]

It moves a little bit but never really out of these positions

 

[Eggcessive]

I learned not to help chicks hatch after having to put down a couple of brain damaged chicks who could not stay upright. Poultry Cell or NutriDrench are very good with weak chicks, 1 drop daily and give extra water to drink. The remaining eggs could be candled and put under the other broody if they are viable. I had a broody hen once who attacked her chick, and then started to the others until I removed them to a brooder. She was a great hen, but a lousy broody, and I never let her set on eggs again. I hope that you can save this chick and the others who have not hatched. I let them hatch on their own if possible, since I cannot take care of chicks who have too many problems. Let us know what happens. Baby chicks who hatch in an incubator cannbe placed under the other broody soon after they hatch.