Should I abort a 1 chicken hatch?

[MaeIstrom]

I started a hatch 8 days ago to test a new incubator/egg fertility and after candling I have exactly 1 viable egg with a second possible-but-probably-not egg. I've discarded the rest and I have a second lot going through that will be due to hatch a week later but in the meantime I'm torn on whether to keep the two eggs going. In past hatches when I've had a chick hatch a day early I notice they seem quite needy and distressed to be on their own in the brooder for a day to the degree I normally carry the first born around in my pocket and let it sleep in my bed for the first night (or at least I did until the time I rolled over on one and crushed it in my sleep ) but this time it would be on it's own for an entire week. I'm very tempted to just discard the egg as at 8 days it's mainly just a heart and veins, not even a nervous system or brain to register it's freezing to death so now would be the time to end things. On the other hand forgoing an entire life to avoid 1 week of distress is probably not a deal the bird would ask for if I could ask its' opinion, is it even my place to make such a decision on its behalf? Ideally I would give the egg to someone with a broody hen but it's just coming into winter here so not much odds of that.

 

[Kiki]

Are the second group of eggs in the same incubator?

 

[Glory to His name]

Animals don’t have souls, so there is no moral implication there. Not that we should have careless disregard for animals’ lives, but it doesn’t know or care either way.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

You could always let it hatch and buy it some friends from a feed store!

 

[tripletfeb]

Wouldn't you want to continue testing the incubator through the entire hatch? What if it gets to a later date then quits? If it does hatch, then you could go buy some chicks at a farm store, maybe

 

[MaeIstrom]

Are the second group of eggs in the same incubator?

Yes but I'll be partitioning it off and stopping the egg turning for that row. I've used 1 incubator for staggered hatches before so that's not an issue for me.

 

[MaeIstrom]

Animals don’t have souls, so there is no moral implication there. Not that we should have careless disregard for animals’ lives, but it doesn’t know or care either way.

Not for killing them maybe but there is a moral implication in causing suffering.

 

[Glory to His name]

Not for killing them maybe but there is a moral implication in causing suffering.

If that’s what you’re worried about, a quick google search brought this up for me: “A recent study by the Technical University of Munich in Germany measured chicken embryos' heart rate, brain activity, blood pressure and movements in response to potentially painful stimuli like heat and electricity and concluded that they didn't seem to feel them until at least day 13.”

 

[Ecarroll]

Wouldn't you want to continue testing the incubator through the entire hatch? What if it gets to a later date then quits? If it does hatch, then you could go buy some chicks at a farm store, maybe

I agree, this sounds like the best option to me

 

[MaeIstrom]

If that’s what you’re worried about, a quick google search brought this up for me: “A recent study by the Technical University of Munich in Germany measured chicken embryos' heart rate, brain activity, blood pressure and movements in response to potentially painful stimuli like heat and electricity and concluded that they didn't seem to feel them until at least day 13.”

It would've been even quicker to read my original post. I know the egg can be removed at this point without suffering. The question is how cruel is it to hatch and raise the chicken in a brooder by itself.