Urgent help and advice needed!

[gustishmaggi]

We had a broody sitting on a batch of eggs and just 2 days before hatching due she came off the next and wrecked it - eggs all over the place. I retrieved the eggs - stone cold - and put them in a box on top of our boiler. They are now cheeping and starting to crack the shells. We don't have any equipment for this so have moved them into a large box with chippings in the bottom and have set up a halogen light over the top to produce heat. One hatched with a little help this morning but died within 2 hours. How can we prevent this from happening to all off them?? What should we be doing?

Any advice welcome.

 

[elmo]

This section of the forum should have the information you need to brood chicks artificially:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=11

Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have a mess. It sounds like someting may have torn her nest up for her. Anyway, for your specific problem.

The best I can say is to provide a space that is the right temperature range and raise the humidity as high as you can. I don't know what you have or how you can do that.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Insulate the box with whatever you can, towels, more cardboard etc., strive for around 37 degrees C.
Put something that will hold hot water in there soaked sponges in a dish work good . Cover to keep the humidity as high as possible. Good luck.

 

[gustishmaggi]

Brilliant - thanks for all advice so far. The are starting to crack the shells.

We have a hallogen bulb, towels and cardboard, a container with hot water in and a raised glass cover over the top of the box. Fingers crossed.

Any more advice welcome.

 

[gustishmaggi]

1st one has just hatched out!

Just hope it survives now. The one we thought was coming out first seems to have almost given up, whereas this next one has cracked all around the shell and broke free really quickly. Fingers crossed!

 

[pruitt514]

Good luck with your chicks. For that very reason I have given up on broody hens. There is too many variables that go into that sort of incubation. I would rather use artifical incubation that way I can control most of the variables. If they die it my fault rather than the hens, odds that I can live with.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

And you don't take broodies out of egg production.
I realize this goes against nature but I think we have to make economic sense out of chickens.
In my case I can't grow a lot of their feed and it's getting high.

 

[gustishmaggi]

4 out now, and looks like another on the way.

Thanks everyone for the support and advice.