Moms ate shell w/ chick alive inside, Pics & vid of helping chick

[keljonma]

Quote:
If you are letting the hens raise the chicks, you don't really need a heat lamp.

The chicks may use the feed area you set up. Personally, I've never had any luck with it. The chicks usually ate with mama and never went into the separate area. I know it is recommended.... but obviously, the chicks never read that book ..

 

[MarylandChick]

I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL!

I just was in the coop and the new baby looks great. He's up and about and squeaking and everything!

The new Moms seem very perplexed by this. They tried to kill me when I reached under them (while wearing an oven mit because beaks hurt!) They didn't seem to care while I held and marveled over the little chick. Then I put the baby right in front of the nest and they didn't move to gather it so I lifted them up and shoved the baby under them. The one hen peered down under at the baby under the other hen and then they just stared at me so I left.

Ohh it's so exciting! The new chick is so cute! Way cuter than any other chicken ever hatched anywhere in the world!

Link to video of me helping the chick:

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[MarylandChick]

Eating, drinking, playing!What more could I want!!

 

[MarylandChick]

The chick is doing great! The moms are sharing well too!

 

[czilas]

Absolutely precious!

 

[gumpsgirl]

I don't think there is anything more precious than a momma taking care of her babies!

How sweet!

 

[donnap1967]

Adorable baby! Congratulations! What kind of hen is the black one? Pretty, pretty!

 

[ginasmarans]

Sounds like a nice save! Good job. I have had first time broodies peel the shell from a chick too early. I think they just get anxious. One of the hens is probably going to leave the nest soon,to take care of the chick. You may want to pick a hen to raise it and leave the other hen with the unhatched eggs. I have had hens raise babies in the coop with the other chickens. I took a length of wire fence with large openings and rolled it into a circle. I placed that in a corner of the coop and put food and water in it. This let the chicks get in while it mostly kept the bigger chickens out. Every so often one would figure out how to get in. They never bothered the chicks,just ate the food.

 

[MarylandChick]

OH MY GOSH GUESS WHAT! I checked the 4 eggs that I was soooo sure were duds AAAANNNNNDDDD...... 2 of the have little chicks beaks sticking out and I can hear them peeping!!!!!!! Surprise chicks!!!!!!!

I'm going to have 2 more chicks! I'm soooo excited because this is a complete surprise. One is a blue egg and I think the chick looked like it had a white feather in teh somewhere so I know that came from my grey hen who looks like a Sae Gull (I haven't a clue what breeds some of my hens are!) The other is in a brown shell. Ohhhhh I am soooo excited! 2 brown eggs remain. I can't see anything when I tried candeling any of them including the ones with the chicks peeping inside. But the remaining ones are very heavy. I just worry that maybe chicks may be in them that are too big for their shell because I let my Jersey Giant and my smaller hens create these eggs.

(I think the white hen is a mix with a Naked Neck chicken because 1/2 her neck has always been red, featherless and,,,, well she's kind of butt ugly!) The black hen is some sort of Bantam that I traded a rooster for a few months ago. She always looks very annoyed.

Anyways... I'm just DYING to go see the new chicks progress. I've checked a dozen times already today and seen no change. Everytime I go in the coop the chick is out running around eating and drinking. It's so cute when it gets scared, it runs to the hens and shoves just it's head under the hen's feathers like some kind of cartoon ostridge! To make up for annoying the hens I have been picking them fresh grass and worms. I even put mash on a stick and fed it rightto them so they didn't have to bother getting up. They seemed to like that. But they liked it even more when I left. I am so excited to see the new chicks. I now ofcourse am inventing worries about the last two remaining eggs with no movement but I'm trying to keep busy.

My chick definitely has 2 mommies! I tried to split the remaining eggs into two nests next to eachother but devided by a wooden board . The hatched chick seemed cnfused and just kept running back and fourth between them. He looked like a miserable toddler

in distress of his parents devorcing. The hens wanted no part of this split. They used their beaks to immediately put all the eggs together and hoped back on top of eachother.

They rarely ever leave the nest at the same time. If you take the eggs from one and put them all under the other you'll find minutes later they've devided them up again. The hatched chick spends just as much time under, on top of and next to each of them. The only difference between them parenting-wise is that the black hen is more protective/less trusting/or more apt. to nip.

Folding laundry, watching the olympics and typing on my computer isn't enough to keepme occupied.... I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I HAVE TO GO TO THE COOP TO SEE HOW THE PIPS ARE DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm losing my mind!

 

[FisherMOM]

adorable pictures of the baby on the hens!

congratulations.. it sounds exciting!