Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

Well the one that was peeping when I went to bed pipped while I was sleeping. I got up really early this morning to check on it and there was no movement or noise from it any more. I think it may have died trying to get out

I know it wasn't optimal conditions for hatching, but it still feels like I should have stayed up with it or something. I've left it in the "nest" all morning to see if it was just resting. Should I try to "help" it, in case it's just stuck? There's no movement at all from it - so I think the chick didn't make it. I know logically that the eggs were unlikely to make it, but I must confess that I got my hopes up when it was peeping last night

I'm sorry... at this point if it isn't moving and you believe it is dead I would carefully open the pipped area a bit further to check, just make sure you open it towards the air cell area, to tear the membrane in the area of the chick would risk bleeding.

 

[feistychick]

I'm sorry... at this point if it isn't moving and you believe it is dead I would carefully open the pipped area a bit further to check, just make sure you open it towards the air cell area, to tear the membrane in the area of the chick would risk bleeding.

Thanks for the help, I'll open the hole a little and check. The poor little peep, I didn't want to do any damage when it had already made it so far against odds.

 

[tjo804]

Quote:
They do rest sometimes and they have to absorb the yolk sack so there are stages.
You have done so much for this little fella,

 

[feistychick]

They do rest sometimes and they have to absorb the yolk sack so there are stages.
You have done so much for this little fella,

Opened a little hole at the end, and the little guy had died during the night. Darn it, he was so close to making it. Didn't look like anything was wrong with him either. Wish I had stayed up, maybe I could have helped

 

[tjo804]

Don't do that to yourself!
I lost a little guy a couple of days ago. I bandaged its broken wing and after staying up for hatching eggs and his broken arm I took a nap.
with the wing bandaged it tripped and fell into the Chick size waterer was unable to use its wing for leverage and drowned!
I still take a couple of personal lumps for that but Please be kind to yourself! You tried where others may not have keep that one in your bonnet!

 

[feistychick]

Don't do that to yourself!
I lost a little guy a couple of days ago. I bandaged its broken wing and after staying up for hatching eggs and his broken arm I took a nap.
with the wing bandaged it tripped and fell into the Chick size waterer was unable to use its wing for leverage and drowned!
I still take a couple of personal lumps for that but Please be kind to yourself! You tried where others may not have keep that one in your bonnet!
 

Thanks for this, I'm feeling terrible about the little guy. I don't see any signs of life in the other eggs, but will keep them under heat for the rest of the day - just in case. If anything else peeps at me, I'll drink extra caffeine and stay awake :/

 

[tjo804]

I completely understand the feelings you are having.
do some educating on assisted hatching, what happens at hatching time or Broody hens that will pass the time.
and you will be a pro before you know it!

 

[feistychick]

You have that right - they are great for making us learn on the fly! I hadn't planned on having a broody hen (and she was my first), so I did a ton of reading when she started sitting. Now I can start learning about assisted hatching, although I hope not to need it. My feathered friends are turning into a complete education

 

[tjo804]

You have that right - they are great for making us learn on the fly! I hadn't planned on having a broody hen (and she was my first), so I did a ton of reading when she started sitting. Now I can start learning about assisted hatching, although I hope not to need it. My feathered friends are turning into a complete education

Yes they will do that to you!
I had a broody once who somehow rotted her eggs with lifeless chicks while I was out of town for a funeral.

I had to scrub the whole coop!
Soo when my Brand new to laying Silkie went Broody I thought Awe she'll quit and we will be okay.

She did not!

So I was Blessed this year with my first ever Hatchlings! Broody hatch and had to figure out something for the eggs she got off!
(I didn't know about the bra thing or I'd a done it

)
I jammed the cold eggs under a New Newly Broody hen
to my sorrow she got off the chick when it hatched!


This is what I found. and the chick in the box is not the one I set the eggs under

I grabbed her and blew on her and she wiggled. Ran inside to the bathroom heater and she is doing well.
We call her Aurora (sleeping Beauty) only I think she will turn out to be a he by the behavior I am seeing

In which case HE will be Aurora Boriallas Like the lights in the freezing cold.
Needless to say for Christmas Jesus brought me an education!

Chickens have become a favorite part of my life I learn I laugh and I cry and that is great for me since my nest is almost empty.

 

[losttexan]

Opened a little hole at the end, and the little guy had died during the night. Darn it, he was so close to making it. Didn't look like anything was wrong with him either. Wish I had stayed up, maybe I could have helped

Anyone who has done this for any significant amount of time has gone through the torturous "do I assist or not" dance. Often, when we have negative results (whatever we decided to do), we tend to assume we have made the wrong decision without considering the (often) fact that the outcome would have been the same either way. All I can suggest is spend a good deal of time here on BYC researching assisted hatching and using what you learn to help you make those decisions. Every now and then you leave a chick alone and they hatch beautifully, and sometimes you get the satisfaction of helping a little life get a foothold in the world. I think we give ourselves way too much credit, but it helps make those hard decisions a little easier, as well as living with the results.