need hatching help fast...

[jojomojo]

I have a broody out in the coop with eggs under her. Today is hatch day (well, yesterday was I think). I think the chirping drew in the other girls so they've crushed two. The chicks are still alive though. One is about 50% out of the membrane. The other just has a teeny hole in the membrane. The shells are destroyed. What should I do? The one that is about 50% out looks "clean", but the other one with the teeny hole has a very small amount of blood, looks a little wetter.

 

[happyhens1972]

First, get your other hens away from your broody so she can do this in peace.

I would let the one with the teeny hole get on with it unassisted at the moment. If you interfere and the blood vessels are not retracted, you may cause it to bleed to death. As for the one half out, do you mean it was already half out or the 'crushing' has caused it to end up that way? Either way, you may need to very gently help it out but again, be careful of blood vessels and make sure the yolk has been absorbed. If the shells are badly broken, this may cause the membranes to dry out too quick and 'shrink-wrap' the babies so a fine spray of warm water may be necessary and you may need to do it more than once.

You may also need to prepare for the possibility of losing the chicks or that interference may cause rejection. If it is looking like the chicks are going to need persistent help, you are better removing them from mum entirely, letting her sort other eggs and then if you get viable chicks from the removed eggs, sneak them back under her at night once they are fluffed up and dry.

How are things looking now? x

 

[jojomojo]

Thank you for replying!

The one that had a teeny hole now looks about like the other. The blood is minimal.

I'm not sure if the other pipped on her own, just found her this morning like that. But it did not appear to be a pip &zip, shell looked crushed.

So the membranes are starting to dry, I will give them a spritz.

We moved the hen & eggs to our little hospital coop - mama was not too happy about that. I think she accepted the moved nest though. I will never give a hen eggs in the regular coop again!

 

[happyhens1972]

So is the 'half out' chick now out and drying off or is it still partly in the broken shell? And you will need to keep a close eye on mum now. She may decide this has been all too much and attack the chicks as they hatch. And that is assuming that she was not responsible for the damage in the first place???

Be careful when you spritz too....keep water away from the little hole as if it is the pip hole, the chicks beak is just the other side of it and you don't want to drown it.

 

[jojomojo]

It was mostly just membrane for both of them, the bits of crushed shell mostly fell away. The half out chick looked pretty good - no yolk or blood. I spritzed it and helped remove some membrane (still no blood). The other chick that I found with a tiny hole was mostly she'll-less when I found it, worked its own way out about halfway. I gave it a spritz too but it's not looking good at all, quite a bit of blood and I think it got chilled.

They are both under her, I'm about to go check again. It's hard because the broody is MEAN. Those are her eggs & babies and she does not want me anywhere near her.

Forgive my choppy short writing, on an iPad.... not used to this.

 

[jojomojo]

Ah, now I'm on a real computer with a real keyboard.

So we'll call the "half out chick" chick #1. When I found it the shell was mostly crushed & had fallen away. The membrane was stretched and holey all over...not sure how to describe that. No blood yolk with that one. When I gave it a spritz, I was able to remove some membrane (from the head/wings/etc). There was still no blood after that.

The chick with the hole, chick #2, was basically just a membrane when I found it, almost no shell at all. By the time I check on her about 20-30 minutes later, it looked like the first one - membrane was stretched & holey all over. But, this one had a bit of blood at the beginning and by the time I went to spritz, there was more blood. And I think she got chilled. It wasn't moving and I was pretty sure it was dead.

I just checked again and I could barely see chick #2. She was moving around a bit so she at least seemed a little stronger. I'm pretty sure I heard more than one peeping....could have been one of the other 4 eggs though. I'll update again later, but I think my interventions end here and its all up to mama. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[happyhens1972]

As long as those two chicks are now fully out of shell and membrane, there's not much more you can do. The only thing you might want to consider IF you are in a position to do so, is to remove both of them and keep them under artificial heat so ensure they are properly heated and dry before returning them to mum at night. If she is 'lifting' to allow other eggs to hatch, there is a chance that the two weaker ones may get chilled on the 'outskirts' and die as a result but if you haven't got an incubator or heat lamp then their best chance is under mum and then yes, your intervention can come to a close and let nature take its course. it is hard sometimes and heartbreaking to see such delicate little lives struggle and lose the fight but actually the whole hatching process does a lot to envigourate a chick and make it stronger and if these little ones have been so badly compromised, they may be inherantly weak because of it....the choice as to whether to intervene and to what extent is never easy.

I so hope the rest of this hatch goes well for you xx