I noticed one of our eggs chirping this morning so put it back under "mum". Yesterday we had a hatching but unfortunately it died with the yolk intact. I thought maybe one of the three "mums" sitting in the box had maybe trodden on it. However, today's egg I noticed just had a small piece of egg shell missing when I put it back under the hen. I then carried on cleaning out the coop and when I'd finished glanced in to see if anything was happening.
Mum was rolling the egg and removing the shell herself. Is this normal? I've read as much as I can but most of the sites seem to concentrate on incubator hatching. I'm concerned that mum was pecking to get at the contents inside and not to help the chick. I then started to wonder if the other chick died of being stood on or the same thing happened.
I've removed the egg and its sat in a box in the warm sunshine. It's still very much alive but where the hen rolled it there is no shell all done one side. The membrane is intact.
If the chick hatches what do I do, will the hen accept it back in the nest or should I just return it beforehand and let nature take its course.
Any help would really be appreciated.
I've attempted to attach a photo.
Mum was rolling the egg and removing the shell herself. Is this normal? I've read as much as I can but most of the sites seem to concentrate on incubator hatching. I'm concerned that mum was pecking to get at the contents inside and not to help the chick. I then started to wonder if the other chick died of being stood on or the same thing happened.
I've removed the egg and its sat in a box in the warm sunshine. It's still very much alive but where the hen rolled it there is no shell all done one side. The membrane is intact.
If the chick hatches what do I do, will the hen accept it back in the nest or should I just return it beforehand and let nature take its course.
Any help would really be appreciated.
I've attempted to attach a photo.
