Looking at unhatched eggs question

[Basil G]

I was comparing one of my broody hens to the artificial incubator and the broody hen hatched 9 out 10 eggs that where possible to hatch in the last days. The incubator had 28 and one 6 hatched (actually make that 5 because I had to help the first one and it died, then another chick started to hatch then just died also, so I'm not liking incubators)

So today I cracked open the remaining eggs and most of them where not fully developed in one way or another, but one chick was over developed. It had 3 legs/feet (sorry I didn't take pictures was really grossed out with yolk and all the slim from the other eggs)

Now this chick came from my rescue hen (none of her other eggs hatched, and her back ground story of being rescued was someone thought that getting chicks and keeping them in a cardboard box with never seeing sunlight and being only fed bread for, guessing the first 4-5 months of her life, was the best choice for a couple of chickens)

Now I'm not sure if it was the hen that was the problem or the incubator or if I need to try more eggs from this hen to determine this.

 

[foreverlearning]

The extra feet could have been twins and if that was the case most don't ever make it to hatch and the ones that do usually require a helped hatch. It sounds like the humidity could have been off in the incubator. I would do a control test hatch. You can get mutt eggs really cheap or even free from anyone that raises chickens. I would try a hatch in the incubator with 1/2 her eggs and 1/2 mutt eggs and see how that goes. If you are still having problems with that hatch then you need to look at the incubator. Heat and humidity are huge issues with many brands and that is why most people have 3 ways to watch both (just in case one failed like a thermometer).

 

[ChickenLegs13]

True that!
You don't have to worry about putting wet sponges under hens, not closing the lid properly, having the power go out.....
But my lectric hen never stomps the eggs and breaks them, trample chicks to death, gets attacked by coons, or attacks me when I gather eggs.
Gotta stay on your toes when using a styrofoam hen, which I do. As long as the eggs are good I get the same hatch rate either way.

 

[Basil G]

Thanks everyone
I think I'll just try my rescue hen's eggs under the next broody next time