Pullet Sitting on Eggs

[Tretinker]

Here is one article listing common reasons embros/chicks die before hatch. Many of the causes involve artificial incubation and may not apply to broody-incubated eggs. The fact your rooster is only 20 weeks old Might be a reason the chicks were too weak to fully develop and hatch, but to my knowledge it's usually eggs laid by older hens that have this problem.
https://extension.msstate.edu/content/trouble-shooting-failures-egg-incubation

This is a really interesting read and although it may not apply to broody incubator eggs it's self

A chick that is raised all by itself gets lonely, and it can have trouble interacting with other chickens later, because it does not learn how when it is young.

That applies to chicks brooded artifically, away from the flock. A chick raised by a hen is a very different case, and I do not think you have to worry about it.

A chick raised by a hen has mama for company (not lonely), and she teaches it how chickens interact. And when you put the hen & chick back with the flock, she helps the chick get properly integrated there too. So the chick will NOT have the social/interaction issues that would come from a chick being raised completely alone in a brooder.

This is good to know, I'm just hoping she's a good mama and takes care of this as yet unnamed little one.

 

[NatJ]

Will Marshmallow be okay?

The hen should be fine.
She may look for the chick and be upset for some amount of time (hours or days), or she may go back to normal behavior immediately. Different hens handle things differently.

I should have built the wire higher.

Putting a top on it might be another possible solution. I have never yet found a fence tall enough to keep ALL chickens in, because there always seems to be one that flies even higher.

 

[Sussex19]

I'm so sorry
Marshmallow should be fine, maybe a little upset, but she will get over it.

 

[Tretinker]

The hen should be fine.
She may look for the chick and be upset for some amount of time (hours or days), or she may go back to normal behavior immediately. Different hens handle things differently.



Putting a top on it might be another possible solution. I have never yet found a fence tall enough to keep ALL chickens in, because there always seems to be one that flies even higher.

We did try and net the top but it was in a corner with a tree in and so it proved tricky. In the end we were worried it was fallen on to them.

I think next time we will incubate ourselves and brood the chicks indoors with no mama. There is no suitable space while we are in Flockdown to brood outside.

I really hope Marshmallow gets over this quick, just feeling crap.

 

[Tretinker]

I wouldn't worry unless you gave them sudden jolts in the process.
Your issue will be the staggered hatch. After the first hatch, a day or two later the hen will leave the nest to care for the live chick/s and abandon any late bloomers so you'll need to make plans in that eventuality.
What makes the coop "not chick friendly"?

I don't think any sudden jolting as I'm a bit clumsy so I try to be care with any egg so that's hopefully a positive!

Thanks for this, if I were really lucky to arrive straight after hatching could I scoop up said chick and bring it in to brood? Would she stay sat then?

I would loath to but I might take out the furthest developed one, the other 3 look closer in development.

The coop exit is a ramp that starts out about 4 feet up and doesn't have sides. I'm looking at rabbit hutch options cheap second hand that we could put in the main run as another option

 

[Sussex19]

I have found eggs to be a lot tougher than I expected, once I dropped an egg from around 30cm onto a wooden floor, and it hatched without any issue.
With the coop, I think the only problem would be them getting back in in the evenings. Maybe you could just lift them up?
If you take the chicks as soon as they hatch, I think she will stay sitting for at least a little time and may start looking for them, but I'm sure that she would get over it eventually.

 

[Tretinker]

Thank you @Sussex19 and @Allsfairinloveandbugs this is great and such a relief!

I think I'll monitor the situation and probably give the first chick 24 hrs. Bring it in and keep it safe while Marshmallow sits on the last 3 and as soon as the last one or second to last hatches I'll bring it out to join mumma. I don't want Marshmallow to be grieving for them.

It shouldn't be too cold, our really cold weather isn't till Jan Feb time. Around 10c should be the coldest day time temp and 5c the lowest night.

I do have the mean girl issue with the coop though. We have some hybrids that aren't nice to chicks so I definitely think we need to move Marshmallow and the eggs or chicks. Is there any safe time to do this? I worry if I move her now she'll stop being broody but if I don't and those eggs hatch and the mean girls take offence.....

I will get husband to build a brooder coop as we are in a lockdown order so the girls can't free range. Just need to figure out the best time to move her/them.

 

[chicbaby]

I don't think any sudden jolting as I'm a bit clumsy so I try to be care with any egg so that's hopefully a positive!

Thanks for this, if I were really lucky to arrive straight after hatching could I scoop up said chick and bring it in to brood? Would she stay sat then?

I would loath to but I might take out the furthest developed one, the other 3 look closer in development.

The coop exit is a ramp that starts out about 4 feet up and doesn't have sides. I'm looking at rabbit hutch options cheap second hand that we could put in the main run as another option

do you have a small cage you could put them all in and bring in the house? that is what i would do, then bring them all out in a separate area when they are big enough slowly integrate them all.

 

[chicbaby]

That sounds great good luck with the babies.

 

[Sussex19]

As far as I can tell, all the eggs are looking good!
I have found that I have never had a problem moving the mother once the chicks have hatched, but I haven't had much luck moving them while sitting.
So I would wait till they hatch before moving them.