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- #11
When I got home late this afternoon it was very disappointing. I apoligized; this is long and rambling.
When Mama got broody we left her in the nest and planned to move her when the chicks hatched. FIRST MISTAKE.
We were anxious to move her because we were worried the chicks that had hatched might fall out of the nest. We took the nest off the wall and put it on the floor so it wouldn't be such a big fall if that happened.
When I got home I looked into window as I walked to the hen house and I saw Mama and the 5 chicks on the floor. I ran into the henhouse and several of the other hens followed me. Mama immediately puffed up and tried to get all the chicks under her. I called for my husband and we got all the other hens out and shut up the hen house so they couldn't come in. When we left this morning there were 3 eggs with pips and 3 without pips. When I looked into the nest, there were 2 dead chicks; still wet and cold. Two eggs had pips and other 2 were unpipped. All the eggs were cold.
I'm guessing the chicks started to jump out of the nest and Mama followed, abandoning the remaining eggs. I don't know if the 2 chicks were already hatched and her leaving the nest let them get cold, or if they hatched after she left the nest and they got cold and died.
Our plan had been to set up our dog cage in the hen house for Mama and the chicks. We immediately brought it in. I set up a cardboard box in the dog cage that was very close in size to the nest and put the eggs in it, but Mama wouldn't go into the box. She seems more interested in the chicks than the eggs. I moved the eggs several times trying to get them under her, but she kept moving around with the chicks. I noticed that one of the eggs smelled bad. It was the egg with the most debris from the broken egg. We removed it; it turned out to be rotten. We candled the other unpiped egg and I think it looks OK.
The 2 pipped eggs were chirping and tapping, but they were cold. I panicked and did what I said I wouldn't do; I tried to help one of them hatch. But it was too early. The yoke is not yet absorbed. I feel sooo bad. I had removed most of the shell and stopped when I saw the unabsorbed yoke. There is about 1/3 of the shell left at the back/bottom of the chick. The chick kept trying get out of the shell. I searched for advice on the forum and found a thread where someone said they stopped letting only the head out. They then wrapped the remaining egg in a damp paper towel and wrapped in saran wrap and put in back in the incubator. We don't have an incubator. I don't want to put it back under Mama, she would probably peck at it. I wrapped all of the chick, but her head, in a damp paper towel and then wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. I guess I'm trying to re-create the egg atmosphere. We put her on a towel in the bathtub and suspended a reptile heat lamp above her. (I keep calling it a her, but who knows?). We've got the temperature around 95 degrees. If she is still alive in the morning, I will change the paper towel and plastic wrap and hope the unabsorbed yoke is smaller. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
Since then I checked again on Mama and she had moved into the nest/box with the chicks and the 2 remaining eggs were outside the box and cold. I moved them both under her. I could hear a tapping noise in the pipped egg.
If we ever do this again, we will move the hen into a brood box right away. We will put less eggs under her. I think this may be why the hatch is so spread out; Mama had so many eggs some were often at the edge and I don't think they stayed as warm. Mama was very faithful to the eggs until the hatched chicks jumped out of the nest. If they'd been in a brooder earlier I don't think this would have been a problem. And I will NEVER help a chick hatch again.
So now we have 5 successfully hatched chicks, 3 unsuccessful eggs, 3 dead chicks, 1 chick hatched with unabsorbed yoke, 1 pip, and 1 unpiped. If we had done things differently, I think we'd have 8 chicks, 2 pips, and 1 unknown.
When Mama got broody we left her in the nest and planned to move her when the chicks hatched. FIRST MISTAKE.
We were anxious to move her because we were worried the chicks that had hatched might fall out of the nest. We took the nest off the wall and put it on the floor so it wouldn't be such a big fall if that happened.
When I got home I looked into window as I walked to the hen house and I saw Mama and the 5 chicks on the floor. I ran into the henhouse and several of the other hens followed me. Mama immediately puffed up and tried to get all the chicks under her. I called for my husband and we got all the other hens out and shut up the hen house so they couldn't come in. When we left this morning there were 3 eggs with pips and 3 without pips. When I looked into the nest, there were 2 dead chicks; still wet and cold. Two eggs had pips and other 2 were unpipped. All the eggs were cold.
I'm guessing the chicks started to jump out of the nest and Mama followed, abandoning the remaining eggs. I don't know if the 2 chicks were already hatched and her leaving the nest let them get cold, or if they hatched after she left the nest and they got cold and died.
Our plan had been to set up our dog cage in the hen house for Mama and the chicks. We immediately brought it in. I set up a cardboard box in the dog cage that was very close in size to the nest and put the eggs in it, but Mama wouldn't go into the box. She seems more interested in the chicks than the eggs. I moved the eggs several times trying to get them under her, but she kept moving around with the chicks. I noticed that one of the eggs smelled bad. It was the egg with the most debris from the broken egg. We removed it; it turned out to be rotten. We candled the other unpiped egg and I think it looks OK.
The 2 pipped eggs were chirping and tapping, but they were cold. I panicked and did what I said I wouldn't do; I tried to help one of them hatch. But it was too early. The yoke is not yet absorbed. I feel sooo bad. I had removed most of the shell and stopped when I saw the unabsorbed yoke. There is about 1/3 of the shell left at the back/bottom of the chick. The chick kept trying get out of the shell. I searched for advice on the forum and found a thread where someone said they stopped letting only the head out. They then wrapped the remaining egg in a damp paper towel and wrapped in saran wrap and put in back in the incubator. We don't have an incubator. I don't want to put it back under Mama, she would probably peck at it. I wrapped all of the chick, but her head, in a damp paper towel and then wrapped tightly with plastic wrap. I guess I'm trying to re-create the egg atmosphere. We put her on a towel in the bathtub and suspended a reptile heat lamp above her. (I keep calling it a her, but who knows?). We've got the temperature around 95 degrees. If she is still alive in the morning, I will change the paper towel and plastic wrap and hope the unabsorbed yoke is smaller. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
Since then I checked again on Mama and she had moved into the nest/box with the chicks and the 2 remaining eggs were outside the box and cold. I moved them both under her. I could hear a tapping noise in the pipped egg.
If we ever do this again, we will move the hen into a brood box right away. We will put less eggs under her. I think this may be why the hatch is so spread out; Mama had so many eggs some were often at the edge and I don't think they stayed as warm. Mama was very faithful to the eggs until the hatched chicks jumped out of the nest. If they'd been in a brooder earlier I don't think this would have been a problem. And I will NEVER help a chick hatch again.
So now we have 5 successfully hatched chicks, 3 unsuccessful eggs, 3 dead chicks, 1 chick hatched with unabsorbed yoke, 1 pip, and 1 unpiped. If we had done things differently, I think we'd have 8 chicks, 2 pips, and 1 unknown.
