Please help - mama tried to kill pipping eggs, walked away

[Stonerowfarm]

My mille fleur's who I've let lay and set at will have never successfully hatched out chicks. I go and check on them today as they have been setting and I find one chick had started to zip out and died. Mama was on the other side of the coop and had abandoned the rest of the eggs because she had one successfully hatch. So, of the remaining eggs a couple are peeping and one had started to zip. That was over 5 hours ago. She has cracked a bit more of the shell and I have her and the hatched chick under the lights and away from bad mama but now what? I went through a horrible time last year with two chicks that mama had crushed and were shrink-wrapped (from another coop) and after hours with a wet towel and heat helped them from their shells and they went on to be a beautiful hen and roo. I don't want to intervene if she'll do it on her own, but by the same token I don't want her to die in the shell because she under a lamp, not in a bator and away for bad mama.

Any suggestions?

 

[yuaan]

I did not know that Mille fleur breed goes broody , if so then I am over the moon as I am hatching some booted sabelpoot and silkies

 

[sumi]

My mille fleur's who I've let lay and set at will have never successfully hatched out chicks. I go and check on them today as they have been setting and I find one chick had started to zip out and died. Mama was on the other side of the coop and had abandoned the rest of the eggs because she had one successfully hatch. So, of the remaining eggs a couple are peeping and one had started to zip. That was over 5 hours ago. She has cracked a bit more of the shell and I have her and the hatched chick under the lights and away from bad mama but now what? I went through a horrible time last year with two chicks that mama had crushed and were shrink-wrapped (from another coop) and after hours with a wet towel and heat helped them from their shells and they went on to be a beautiful hen and roo. I don't want to intervene if she'll do it on her own, but by the same token I don't want her to die in the shell because she under a lamp, not in a bator and away for bad mama.

Any suggestions?

Try and keep her and the other unhatched eggs at a temperature of 99*F and humidity of around 65% and give them time. Some chicks are going to take their time and all you can do it wait, watch the humidity, try not to worry... Good luck and

 

[Stonerowfarm]

As of right now - I have one that hatched on her own that I pulled before the mama's killed her. The one I was so worried about yesterday I did end up helping her out of the egg because there was no way to keep the humidity up and she was starting to shrink wrap. She still had her cord so I kept her warm and let nature takes its course. This morning she is up, cord is off and she is doing well. I went out to open the coops and another one had started t zip. Mama's were both trampling it (again) so I pulled it. Baby has successfully zipped out of the shell herself and is recovering from the hatch. So, now I have one more in the shell starting to peep. My biggest concern is that I don't have a bator so trying to keep any moisture or humidity around the egg is my biggest challenge.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

Over the past 5+ years I've been very lucky with my mille fleurs. These hens are from my 3rd hatching and while two of the four hens will go broody they just can't get a clue about what to do once the eggs start hatching. Last year they killed every chick as soon as they started peeping in the shell. So, this year we are ahead of the curve because they aren't crushing the eggs but they aren't there yet. I think in the spring I'll separate the brood hens and see if they can bring up babies by themselves.

 

[sumi]

As of right now - I have one that hatched on her own that I pulled before the mama's killed her. The one I was so worried about yesterday I did end up helping her out of the egg because there was no way to keep the humidity up and she was starting to shrink wrap. She still had her cord so I kept her warm and let nature takes its course. This morning she is up, cord is off and she is doing well. I went out to open the coops and another one had started t zip. Mama's were both trampling it (again) so I pulled it. Baby has successfully zipped out of the shell herself and is recovering from the hatch. So, now I have one more in the shell starting to peep. My biggest concern is that I don't have a bator so trying to keep any moisture or humidity around the egg is my biggest challenge.

I'd put that hen on the "broody banned" list so fast she wouldn't know what hit her. What a pain. It sounds like you are doing a great job with these chicks though!