New chick

[Chickenlady0628]

I have a Easter Egger who went broody this spring and hatched 3 ducklings (I didn’t have roosters at the time). She raised them to 3 weeks and all went smoothly. This spring I ended up acquiring 10 chicks and of those 10, 6 were roosters. Anyways fast forward to now, Mama went broody AGAIN and we have 7 growing eggs. After candling often we had 1 due to hatch today and 2 in 2 days (the rest will be a loss due to me having no incubator and a staggered hatch). One had pipped yesterday and that went on track with what I was expecting. Went out this morning and there was a chick hatched that she pushed out. Now it went down to 50° last night and it’s feathers were dry but pasted down. I honestly thought it was dead until it moved when I picked it up to dispose of it. He has the yolk still attached and was cold to the touch. We rushed him in and put him on a heating pad and under the heat lamp. It’s been 2 hours and he’s drying fluffy, moving, and peeping. I went out after I got him settled in to clean out any other mess in her nest and was shocked to find a fluffed out perfect chick under her. My questions are:
How did two hatch when only one pipped?
Do you think Mama maybe broke the egg on accident and that’s why she pushed him away?
Should I try sneaking him under her tonight or just raise him myself?
Any ideas on what happened?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what happened. Maybe the pip was underneath where you couldn't see it. Maybe the chick had crawled up under Mama's wing where you could not see it before.

If the chick absorbs the yolk and is is acting OK I'd try putting it back under the hen tonight after dark. It's challenging to raise a single chick and I think there is a pretty good chance she will accept it if it is healthy. Be out there first thing n the morning and check on how it is going. If she rejects it take all the chicks to raise together. That might even keep her on the nest long enough to hatch more eggs.

Good luck!

 

[Chickenlady0628]

I don't know what happened. Maybe the pip was underneath where you couldn't see it. Maybe the chick had crawled up under Mama's wing where you could not see it before.

If the chick absorbs the yolk and is is acting OK I'd try putting it back under the hen tonight after dark. It's challenging to raise a single chick and I think there is a pretty good chance she will accept it if it is healthy. Be out there first thing n the morning and check on how it is going. If she rejects it take all the chicks to raise together. That might even keep her on the nest long enough to hatch more eggs.

Good luck!

Mama decided yesterday to switch nests and abandon the eggs, when she was taking a break from sitting I switched the developed eggs out with the fresh eggs and checked them all while making the switch. The one was pipped and I heard chick peeping up a storm in there lol. The rest were on track (I candled them as I was making the switch). Definitely were no babies yesterday because she was off the nest and on the other one. I really hope this little one makes it!