hen got off eggs, 2 of them are peeping!!

[chicksahoy]

i had a broody hen who today decided to desert the nest, i got her eggs to candle them, and i could hear 2 of the eggs peeping. one of the eggs actually piped, what do i do to keep them alive and hatch them?

 

[nzpouter]

put them under a 60 watt light bulb, about 8" away..

 

[tiki244]

Yeah and do you have an old plastic milk jug? You could cut the top off and put a little washcloth in there and put the light over the top about 8" away. Try and check to make sure it doesnt get too hot. Do you have any thermometer at all? Maybe you could put a little water on the washcloth, but not a lot.

 

[chicksahoy]

ok, the egg that piped, is wiggling back and forth, how long before h hatches? do i need to help him???

 

[Chicktastic]

No dont help let him hatch out on his own if he can. You only help after 24 hours that is if you are going to help at all.

 

[dospuercos]

I have only done this once. But when my eggs piped, they took a few hours before they were completely out. I am worried about the babies staying warm, do you have a heat lamp to keep them under? Also when my hen went broody it was December, so I locked her in one of my rabbit cages to make sure she stayed on the eggs. I would let her out several times a day to eat, drink, etc. Do you have somewhere you could put the eggs & mom to encourage her to stay on them?

 

[nzpouter]

if they give up, not much chance they'll take the baby when you cage them, just raise them in a brooder.

 

[GloriaH]

I have hatched chicks in the house under the same circumstances and have returned them to their Mother 2 to 3 days later and Mom was sure happy to see them. Mom talks to her chicks when they are in the egg. Chicks peep back at Mom so they know each other before they even hatch. It's always worth trying to put them back together.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Do you have a bator ??

If you do not, put them in a plastic enclosure with a wet sponge and a heat lamp. Put in a thermometer at the bottom of the container and adjust the lamp until it is about 95 degrees F.

Keep as much humidity as you can. In this circumstance you will more than likely need to help the chick. The membrane will probably start to dry on the chick and it will not be able to move to zip.

Be sure the chick has an air hole to breath. You should be able to see its beak at the pip. The membrane has to have a hole too, not just the shell.

GOOD LUCK !! I did this about a week ago. I kept the chick overnight to fuzzy buttness and returned it to the mom. She will peck at it a bit and then accept it. Be sure she puts it under her for warmth, really important.

I forgot to say. When mom had the egg she tried to peck at it to get an air hole for this chick. So she knew it was alive, but having a time of it trying to get out. This I think is why she abandoned just this one egg in her clutch.

 

[chicksahoy]

ok, i actually have an incubator, but it was cold, i had to bring it back up to temp, I added some water, and put the eggs in there, i say eggs because she abandoned the whole clutch. 3 of those eggs have hatched already, with another egg that piped! they all seem to be pretty healthy too!!