Please Advise! Spare Baby...

[GrandmaDoll]

Our wonderful mama, Goldie, a Bantam Welsummer, hatched 1 egg out of 2. She hasn't been sitting on her "spare" egg properly for 2 days, so we cleaned out her nest for her today and the egg was peeping! My wife opened it (chick had cracked it) and helped baby be born, but there was blood present, which I have never seen before. She can't stand yet (its been 1/2 hr) and I set up a heat lamp asap. We tried to give her to mama, but she was hostile. Can we slip baby under mama tonight? Or are we stuck raising her? Will she even make it? She was soooo cold! What should we do? What else can we do?

 

[Pyxis]

The blood was because she wasn't ready to come out yet - chicks have to absorb all their yolk and the blood from the blood vessels around the shell before they hatch. If there was blood, it means the chick hadn't absorbed it all and it wasn't ready to hatch. Since you've already taken her out of the shell there's not much that can be done about that, but if you have to help again, just know that if you see blood you should stop.

I would get that baby warm asap - you said you have it under a heat lamp which is good. She needs to be kept warm. You will need to provide her a heat source for as long as you are raising her. You can try to slip her back under your broody tonight, but if she is being hostile just know that there is a chance she will reject it and allow it to get cold and die, or possibly even outright kill it. I've had it happen.

As long as you keep her warm, fed, and watered, there's a good chance she'll make it as long as she has absorbed all her yolk and is no longer bleeding. It's normal for newly hatched chicks to be wobbly and not able to stand for a while after hatch, so that's not something to be worried about.

And of course congrats on your chicks!

 

[lazy gardener]

Given that scenario, if the little one lives, you might want to take Mama's other baby to raise with it, if Mama doesn't accept that second baby. I'd rather take a baby away from Mama than raise a single chick, but that's just my opinion, and others will have other opinions that are just as valid! Agreed, if any blood, stop when assisting a hatch. Would have been better to provide heat lamp and damp towels for humidity and let it hatch on it's own... but I wasn't there, and possibly the chick may have been too hypothermic to succeed. Wishing you the best.

 

[Naser]

keep the chick warm under a light bulb or something similar. it doesn't need water or food for at least 24 hours.
If the hen showed hostility, I wouldn't put the chick under her, try again when the chick is fluffy and stronger. but I would try only during the day. if she will take it she will, if you put it under her at night the chances are you will find the chick dead in the morning.

 

[Pyxis]

keep the chick warm under a light bulb or something similar. it doesn't need water or food for at least 24 hours.
If the hen showed hostility, I wouldn't put the chick under her, try again when the chick is fluffy and stronger. but I would try only during the day. if she will take it she will, if you put it under her at night the chances are you will find the chick dead in the morning.

I've actually had the opposite experience of this - giving hens new babies during the day, they are not willing to take them, but slipping them under them at night they think that they just hatched under there and are willing to accept them - that's why it's generally recommended to do it at night. I have had hens take chicks in the day too though. Given that this hen had already shown aggressiveness towards the baby, I wouldn't try it during the day, and personally I probably wouldn't try it at night either, but as lazy gardener said, everyone has valid opinions

 

[Naser]

Given that this hen had already shown aggressiveness towards the baby, I wouldn't try it during the day, and personally I probably wouldn't try it at night either, but as lazy gardener said, everyone has valid opinions

Normally I put chicks under hens at night. but since this hen showed aggressiveness, I would be very nervous to put a chick under her and go to bed.

 

[GrandmaDoll]

Thanks so much for all your answers! I did read the assisted hatching guide, but after the fact. I was just so worried about her temp. Also, I had just settled into a nice hot bath when my wife brought me the peeping egg, freaking out.

Btw, there was only a couple drops of blood, and no veins or streaking in the membrane. The blood seemed to be in one spot of the membrane. No sign of any yolk, it was all absorbed.

Goldie is a very good mom, but she allows only one human (me) near her babies or eggs, and that grudgingly. So I was still in the tub, hurrying to wash, when poor Becky tried to introduce the new baby to Goldie. Since Goldie had her 4-day-old with her, she got all freaked out at the human approach, likely 'cause it wasn't me. So, I will wait until tomorrow, as we are getting a cold front tonight and the low will be 50. I may let Goldie see the newborn tomorrow and let her hear the peeping, as the peeping seems to be the main cue for her mothering instincts. She has 4 youngsters from her last batch still here (out of 9!), and the day the peeping stopped, she drove them away from the food instead of calling them to it. Goldie still roosted with them, and otherwise acted like a flock mate, just not a solicitous mom. Shortly after, she began laying again.

Sorry for getting distracted...So, the plan is this: 1) keep baby warm tonight. 2) If still alive in AM, take it out to see mom for a few mins. 3) Put under mom tomorrow night if thing go well. 4) Don't go to sleep, check on baby several times to make sure mom hasn't evicted it from nest, etc. Sounds like a plan to me.

BTW, Goldie is the hen in my profile pic.

 

[GrandmaDoll]

Sorry to add this final piece, but the tiny one didn't make it. Maybe next batch I will put any spare eggs under heat right away. It may not have been viable, but my gut tells me it was most likely the cold conditions. Can't blame Goldie, she had a youngster to feed. She did make Chick (baby's name) wait almost 36 hours after hatching before she got off the other egg. Circle of Life, I reckon. Thanks again for all the helpful answers.

 

[Pyxis]

Sorry for your loss