Long-shot egg is cracking! What do??

[LaFleche]

Congratulations on your lucky miracle chicks!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Hi folks! Looking for help/advice from anyone who's had experience helping eggs hatch without a proper incubator.

We have a hen who rejected the rest of her eggs after the first three hatched. She was in an enclosed space but literally rolled the eggs out of the nest repeatedly over the course of 24 hours. This caused one chick to be born prematurely, but that one is back out with the rest and doing just fine after a few days in our care.

Now we have three other eggs that have somehow miraculously survived. We don't have an incubator and can't get one quickly, so we nested the eggs in ti leaves (for humidity) and put them in a box, under a heat lamp, air sac side up, not expecting much.

It's been three days and Holy moly we have some shell breakage! Two little spots where the shell is cracked and pushed out. We check the eggs every few hours so it hasn't been that way long.

Aside from the cracks, there hasn't been any movement or peeping, so I'm a little worried. (which is probably silly because this is such a long shot in the first place.)

In this extremely makeshift set up, are there any steps we can take to increase our already slim chances of a successful hatch?

Temp: ranges from 97 to 101
Humidity: normal humidity in this area is 60-70%, but because the heat lamp will dry things out, we're using the ti leaves as a buffer.

Picture of our preemie chick the day we put it back outside as tax

View attachment 2444861

Aloha @KaleoKolea ,
Good to see you on board and reaching out. Bravo on the hatch/chick save!! I have to say I am pleasantly surprised! When my broodys rejected eggs in the past there was a very good reason After doing a little back and forth with one I solved the age old question... The hen IS smarter than this haole lady.
Please post updated photos when you can.

 

[KaleoKolea]

Aloha @KaleoKolea ,
Good to see you on board and reaching out. Bravo on the hatch/chick save!! I have to say I am pleasantly surprised! When my broodys rejected eggs in the past there was a very good reason After doing a little back and forth with one I solved the age old question... The hen IS smarter than this haole lady.
Please post updated photos when you can.

Yes, hens generally know best! This one was a rescue from a hoarder type situation, and is prone to some odd behaviors when stressed, so we had minimal contact with her and only candled one of the eggs at one point while she was broody.

Among the eggs she kicked out were two duds that were starting to stink (you could smell it through the shell) so I think she was just cleaning house after the first few chicks hatched.

I have no idea what breed she is, or what the rooster is, since they were both received from other homesteads with no background info. The rooster does have a bit of a crest, but I had no idea that was actually part of the shape of the head! Here's what they look like:

The other chicks also don't look anything like these ones, which confuses the heck out of me. I'm wondering if another hen contributed eggs at some point.

 

[KaleoKolea]

Polish.....or some other top hatted bird?

Do those kinds of birds also have a different head shape, vs. Just extra feathers? This guy has what feels like a lump of fat on his forehead and I don't know if I should be concerned or not.

 

[TropicalBabies]

He is a very handsome boy, she is a gorgeous girl and those are some awesome and adorable chicks! Mahalo for the photos! Did she accept the ones you hatched out? Are these all your new flock?
I would not worry about the bump on the chicks head, it obviously takes after its father . Yes, with multiple hens laying in one nest and chicks via one broody.
Bravo on the chicken hoarding rescue, though chicken math is a thing, I hope hoarding is less of a thing.

 

[aart]

Do those kinds of birds also have a different head shape, vs. Just extra feathers? This guy has what feels like a lump of fat on his forehead and I don't know if I should be concerned or not.

They usually have what's called vaulted skulls, not sure what they feel like.
@CapricornFarm would know(I think).

 

[CapricornFarm]

They usually have what's called vaulted skulls, not sure what they feel like.
@CapricornFarm would know(I think).

Yes, their heads have skulls with like an extra cap area. They are vulnerable to trauma to their heads when other chickens peck on them.

 

[aart]

Yes, their heads have skulls with like an extra cap area. They are vulnerable to trauma to their heads when other chickens peck on them.

Thanks @CapricornFarm ....would it feel like a lump of fat on his forehead?

like a lump of fat on his forehead

 

[CapricornFarm]

Thanks @CapricornFarm ....would it feel like a lump of fat on his forehead?

I would doubt it, but I never pressed on one.

 

[KaleoKolea]

He is a very handsome boy, she is a gorgeous girl and those are some awesome and adorable chicks! Mahalo for the photos! Did she accept the ones you hatched out? Are these all your new flock?
I would not worry about the bump on the chicks head, it obviously takes after its father . Yes, with multiple hens laying in one nest and chicks via one broody.
Bravo on the chicken hoarding rescue, though chicken math is a thing, I hope hoarding is less of a thing.

Thank you! We've had this flock together since August, with the exception of the rooster, fuzzy, who we brought in to replace a very mean rooster who became soup. Most of them are still young, barely 6 months old. The adult hens either came as rescues, or ferals that decided to come join us. This is only our second batch of chicks hatched here. The first is actually a single chick belonging to a feral fighting chicken. She decided to come down out of the woods and stay once we had a rooster. She didn't need any intervention at all, just laid an egg in our tool closet and didn't move until she was ready.