How to stop chicks being shrinkwrapped under broody hen

[chickengoesmeow]

I checked underneath my broody for chicks around 2:45 this afternoon and found this guy shrinkwrapped pretty bad. Its hard to tell in the pictures but the membrane all around her neck and shoulders was really stuck to her. I helped her out and put her back under her mama, and she is fine and active. I have another egg pipped and am wondering if it will happen to that one too? Is it something I can prevent? Its kinda dry here today but not super hot, around 65 degrees and 45% humidity. The coop isn't especially hot or dry either.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

That's frustrating, I know.

The only things I can suggest would be to really, really be careful about lifting the hen and checking too often. You have to realize "lock down" for the hen is from day 18 forward and not be tempted to check progress. Often an egg is pipped when you don't realize it, and that can change the humidity.

Also be sure she has no interruptions from nosey neighbors. Again, you want her settled on the nest securely without moving.

Sometimes, it just happens, but I find it happens Waaaay more often when I get too eager to check and I interrupt the hen.

My 2 cents.

LofMc

 

[chickengoesmeow]

Since my last post another one has hatched and it was not shrinkwrapped. I have one more left to hatch, it's pipped and I'm expecting to it hatch either overnight or tomorrow morning. The shrinkwrapped chick is doing fine now, very active.

That's frustrating, I know.

The only things I can suggest would be to really, really be careful about lifting the hen and checking too often. You have to realize "lock down" for the hen is from day 18 forward and not be tempted to check progress. Often an egg is pipped when you don't realize it, and that can change the humidity.

Also be sure she has no interruptions from nosey neighbors. Again, you want her settled on the nest securely without moving.

Sometimes, it just happens, but I find it happens Waaaay more often when I get too eager to check and I interrupt the hen.

My 2 cents.

LofMc

I wonder if something might've been bothering her while it was hatching. For the shrinkwrapped egg, it pipped sometime overnight and I checked underneath her around 6 in the morning and saw it pipped so I let her sit back down. After that I went to school, so I don't know if something happened between then and when I got back from school and found it shrinkwrapped. She is seperated from the rest of the flock, but someone might of been harassing her through the wire. It wouldn't surprise me.
The second chick that hatched I will admit I did not follow proper percautions with. Ashamedly, I probably checked on that once 7 or 8 times after it pipped. I was very anxious about it being shrinkwrapped and dying so I was checking once an hour. That one hatched just fine luckily, but my impatience definently did not help anything.
Today I bought 2 more chicks (both day old black sex links) and put them under the hen, so now she has four chicks under her and one egg thats pipped. The chicks are starting to get restless and have been adventuring out from under the hen, so she has been lifting herself up to let them in and out a lot. Would that affect the egg when it's hatching? I have an incubator up and running as a failsafe, would it be better if I moved the egg to the incubator with 70% humidity until it hatches and then just move it back under the hen? My hen easily accepted the two sex links I got for her no questions asked, even though it was during the day and she saw me carry them into the coop. She saw the chicks and started clucking for them to get under her. I don't really want to put the egg into the incubator, but if it hasn't hatched by tomorrow morning should I? Or should I just check periodically tomorrow to make sure everything is okay? I have already been checking on her periodically and would prefer to keep the egg under her, but I also don't want it to die.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Since my last post another one has hatched and it was not shrinkwrapped. I have one more left to hatch, it's pipped and I'm expecting to it hatch either overnight or tomorrow morning. The shrinkwrapped chick is doing fine now, very active.

I wonder if something might've been bothering her while it was hatching. For the shrinkwrapped egg, it pipped sometime overnight and I checked underneath her around 6 in the morning and saw it pipped so I let her sit back down. After that I went to school, so I don't know if something happened between then and when I got back from school and found it shrinkwrapped. She is seperated from the rest of the flock, but someone might of been harassing her through the wire. It wouldn't surprise me.
The second chick that hatched I will admit I did not follow proper percautions with. Ashamedly, I probably checked on that once 7 or 8 times after it pipped. I was very anxious about it being shrinkwrapped and dying so I was checking once an hour. That one hatched just fine luckily, but my impatience definently did not help anything.
Today I bought 2 more chicks (both day old black sex links) and put them under the hen, so now she has four chicks under her and one egg thats pipped. The chicks are starting to get restless and have been adventuring out from under the hen, so she has been lifting herself up to let them in and out a lot. Would that affect the egg when it's hatching? I have an incubator up and running as a failsafe, would it be better if I moved the egg to the incubator with 70% humidity until it hatches and then just move it back under the hen? My hen easily accepted the two sex links I got for her no questions asked, even though it was during the day and she saw me carry them into the coop. She saw the chicks and started clucking for them to get under her. I don't really want to put the egg into the incubator, but if it hasn't hatched by tomorrow morning should I? Or should I just check periodically tomorrow to make sure everything is okay? I have already been checking on her periodically and would prefer to keep the egg under her, but I also don't want it to die.

The less you check the better to prevent shrink wrapping and disturbing the hen.

With the feed store chicks (which will be at least a couple of days old..even as "day old" chicks), you've created a staggered hatch, which isn't desirable. The hen now needs to get up and take the chicks to food and water leaving the pipping chick.

If you really don't want to risk the chick at this point, put it in the incubator as momma WILL be getting up an down for the others.

I take a more "let the hen do her thing" approach, and a bit of survival of the fittest, so if a chick doesn't make it out, and the hen abandons it (almost always because its dead by then), I don't try to intervene. Those that are slow to hatch generally are weaker all around.

Did you set all eggs at the same time? That also helps prevent shrink wrapping and staggered hatches where the hen is up and down with older chicks disturbing the hatching process of the others.

Hopefully the little chick will make it out on its own and it will all resolve.

LofMc

 

[chickengoesmeow]

The less you check the better to prevent shrink wrapping and disturbing the hen.

With the feed store chicks (which will be at least a couple of days old..even as "day old" chicks), you've created a staggered hatch, which isn't desirable. The hen now needs to get up and take the chicks to food and water leaving the pipping chick.

If you really don't want to risk the chick at this point, put it in the incubator as momma WILL be getting up an down for the others.

I take a more "let the hen do her thing" approach, and a bit of survival of the fittest, so if a chick doesn't make it out, and the hen abandons it (almost always because its dead by then), I don't try to intervene. Those that are slow to hatch generally are weaker all around.

Did you set all eggs at the same time? That also helps prevent shrink wrapping and staggered hatches where the hen is up and down with older chicks disturbing the hatching process of the others.

Hopefully the little chick will make it out on its own and it will all resolve.

LofMc

This was already a staggered hatch before the feed store chicks, which is incredibly frustrating. I wasn't the one to set the eggs because my silly hen decided to hide a nest and I didn't find them for a few days, and since the other chickens had been adding to her clutch when I found them they ranged from 1 to 5/6 days along . I culled all the eggs that looked less than 4 days, but that still left the eggs at different ages. The egg that is still yet to hatch was particularly hard to candle so it's probably a day or two behind, we are on the 22nd day and the 23rd will be tomorrow. It is pipped so I have faith in it, and it is a pretty big egg compared to the ones that hatched earlier. Both of it's biological parents are very tough birds, which also gives me hope it will be fine.

If it hasn't hatched by 9 am tomorrow I can move it to the incubator, but I am hoping it doesn't come to that. It just pipped this afternoon and it was chirping inside the egg. It will probably hatch tomorrow morning, so hopefully the other chicks can stay patient long enough for it to hatch, fingers crossed.

 

[chickengoesmeow]

Update: The last chick has hatched, also not shrinkwrapped. It did nothing all day yesterday in the incubator, just chirping. No progress at all. I was starting to get worried it had a defect or something, so in a latch ditch effort I put it under the hen for the night. I just went out to check and it has hatched shrinkwrap free. I don't know what was up with the first egg, maybe it was just unlucky.