Hello all! I have a small backyard flock, a few Ameraucana, a few Leghorn and one Australorp hen. And one beautiful Ameraucana Roo. I have had them all about a year, and love them to pieces! So much fun to watch, great garden helpers and yummy eggs! My children spoil them rotten, and can never spend enough time with them.
My Australorp, Thyme, went broody for the first time, and we decided to let her have the chicks. Everything has been going fine up until today. We had moved her to a maternity coop, she has her nesting box, fresh water food, snacks, privacy the whole nine yards. Yesterday the first two babies hatched, and they are adorable, eating, exploring being chicks. Sadly, this morning when I checked on them, I found a dead chick. It looks to me like it could not get out of the shell, and she was still picking pieces of the shell off of it. I took it away from her, and it was ice cold. Then I noticed that some of her eggs were no longer under her, so I put them back under her, but they were cold. Right now, another egg is hatching and it does not look like it is going so well. She seems to have lost interest in the rest of the eggs. I candled the eggs a few days ago and they were all developing just fine, so I really do not know what she is feeling right now. I guess my question, decision, is if I should just leave the rest of the eggs with her and let whatever happens happen, or should I take the rest and put them in an incubator.
My Australorp, Thyme, went broody for the first time, and we decided to let her have the chicks. Everything has been going fine up until today. We had moved her to a maternity coop, she has her nesting box, fresh water food, snacks, privacy the whole nine yards. Yesterday the first two babies hatched, and they are adorable, eating, exploring being chicks. Sadly, this morning when I checked on them, I found a dead chick. It looks to me like it could not get out of the shell, and she was still picking pieces of the shell off of it. I took it away from her, and it was ice cold. Then I noticed that some of her eggs were no longer under her, so I put them back under her, but they were cold. Right now, another egg is hatching and it does not look like it is going so well. She seems to have lost interest in the rest of the eggs. I candled the eggs a few days ago and they were all developing just fine, so I really do not know what she is feeling right now. I guess my question, decision, is if I should just leave the rest of the eggs with her and let whatever happens happen, or should I take the rest and put them in an incubator.