Strange situation (incubating feral chicken eggs)

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

Aloha! This is probably a bit of a unique problem, but any help is appreciated. My family decided to get some laying hens this year, and have had a hard time finding a local breeder who's got any. While we were waiting for something to come through, we thought we'd try to catch some feral chicks. There are a lot of feral chickens in Hawaii, and depending on the group, they can look very much like any chickens you'd see on a farm. I'd heard some people here maintain their flocks this way. Plus, we were bored being out of work and school due to COVID-19, and looking for reasons to get out but away from people.
Anyway, chicks are super hard to catch but we did come across a hen lying on a clutch, and took some home. I modified the materials I've used to care for baby mynahs that fall out of trees here, and quickly created an incubator. Ambient humidity has been about 60-70% this whole time, and I've done my best to keep the incubator around 100. I candled the eggs and all showed signs of life, but I am new at this and that's about all I registered. I can't recall if there was a big difference in their sizes. I do know that I dubbed one of them Big Lad (though we're hoping for hens) so I must've noticed he was big.

We got the eggs 12 days ago.


Seven days later (5 days ago), one of the eggs hatched, followed by a second (Big Lad) within 24 hours. The chicks are in the makeshift brooder and doing very well.

I have had the remaining eggs on lockdown assuming they would be coming soon. They were on lockdown a day or so before the first two hatched, too. So that's feeling like a long time. I've got the humidity a little extra high. When I gently candle them, I see movement.

BUT the air spaces are looking really big. I'll try to post a pic.

Are these unhatched eggs likely the same incubation age as the first two, and something went wrong causing them not to hatch? Or is it possible the hen had staggered clutches? I've visited this feral site a few times and have seen other nests fill up fast (there were almost two dozen eggs in one nest that had been empty ten days prior) so I'm wondering if maybe feral hens just lay them wherever, and brood communally? I know very little about chickens.

The big question is what do I do now? I'm assuming I'm going to just wait and if they make it they make it. But if there's a chance to be sure it's time to jump in and help, knowing that otherwise they will surely die, I'm willing to try that. I've read and re-read the page here about assisting. But without knowing for sure when they were due, I'd think this would be an extra difficult thing to determine.

Thank you for any help!

 

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

I forgot to mention that I don’t see any beaks poking into air spaces, and when I gently tap on the air spaces and listen, I don’t hear peeps. I could have sworn I heard one tap back, though! Here is a pic of the two that hatched, just because I love them.

 

[Blue_dingo]

I dont know enough to give you a good answer but i love the move rearing ferals!!! Good luck

 

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

Thank you for the reply! I'll try to update. I also have some very early eggs in the incubator from two of the other nests I found. There was no hen so I had no idea whether they'd be viable but I just candled them and found have tiny embryos with little eyes! They're wiggling. This is so fascinating.

By the way, all of these nests have been destroyed by maintenance crews since I gathered the eggs, so none of these chicks would have made it otherwise.

 

[em_dawson]

Thank you for the reply! I'll try to update. I also have some very early eggs in the incubator from two of the other nests I found. There was no hen so I had no idea whether they'd be viable but I just candled them and found have tiny embryos with little eyes! They're wiggling. This is so fascinating.

By the way, all of these nests have been destroyed by maintenance crews since I gathered the eggs, so none of these chicks would have made it otherwise.

Kudos to you for using your resources!

 

[MGG]

I think I can help. The air cells look fine, that's how they should look. The embryos however look a bit small to me. Maybe you had a cool spot or something and they didn't develop as fast. Move the eggs to wherever those other eggs that hatched were laying. Without turning them, can you get some more candling pics? I would just eave them in for a while longer. At least 4 more days. I also think it's awesome that you took them in. Great job! Try to tame them down a lot, they'll probably be more wild since they're feral. Congrats on your babies, they are SO cute!

 

[lena_]

Wow, that's so cool that you hatched some ferals! When I visited Hawaii we fed some feral chickens, and there were so many.
As for the eggs, they look a couple of days from hatching, I'd say four or five at most.
Keep us updated please, I'd love to see how it goes!
Your babies are just adorable

 

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

I think I can help. The air cells look fine, that's how they should look. The embryos however look a bit small to me. Maybe you had a cool spot or something and they didn't develop as fast. Move the eggs to wherever those other eggs that hatched were laying. Without turning them, can you get some more candling pics? I would just eave them in for a while longer. At least 4 more days. I also think it's awesome that you took them in. Great job! Try to tame them down a lot, they'll probably be more wild since they're feral. Congrats on your babies, they are SO cute!

Thank you for the input. I rearranged the eggs in the incubator a few times so I am not sure if these were in different conditions on average or maybe at critical times. But I'll keep them in there longer and try to keep conditions optimal with high humidity and consistent temperature. It's getting dark here now so I'll try to get some better candling pics. I guess it's good to hear they may be a bit small, gives me hope they are just behind they others in development. Thanks again!

 

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

Wow, that's so cool that you hatched some ferals! When I visited Hawaii we fed some feral chickens, and there were so many.
As for the eggs, they look a couple of days from hatching, I'd say four or five at most.
Keep us updated please, I'd love to see how it goes!
Your babies are just adorable

Thank you! Yes they are everywhere, and more each year, it seems. We like to feed them, too. it helps to hear the eggs don't look overdue to you. I'll definitely update.

 

[Hawaii Newbie 2020]

Here is a pic of the hen on the nest (which was later destroyed by the maintenance crew) and one of the flock. Interesting note: I read that feral chickens in Hawaii can be genetically the same as domestic chickens or can be a mix of jungle fowl and domestic chickens.