we have a hen that has gone broody so have been letting her sit on a clutch of about 14 eggs. today when i went out to feed them, one of the eggs had most of the shell gone with some membrane still around and what looked to be a very wet chick laying in it...it wasn't completely hatched or anything, and mama hen wouldn't let me in for a good look. i don't know if it's alive or not...how long does it take for them to emerge from the shell? it's been humid and hot here, so i am thinking the humidity is making it take longer. she's been sitting on the eggs for just about 21 days...maybe 22. it's right on time for them to hatch, but since we are not sure what we are looking for and were a bit surprised by this to begin with, i don't know really what to do right now. we have a separate coop area for her and the babies once they do hatch. i just don't know if any will make it.
can anyone point me in the direction of what to look for, etc..? we've been reading and everything says that if the hen is hatching them, to leave them alone, so we have been. its the actual hatching process that we are not finding too much info about...i mean exactly what happens when a chick comes out of the egg and how it should look, etc...
now that we know we have fertile eggs however, we are going to invest in an incubator for next time.
thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!
can anyone point me in the direction of what to look for, etc..? we've been reading and everything says that if the hen is hatching them, to leave them alone, so we have been. its the actual hatching process that we are not finding too much info about...i mean exactly what happens when a chick comes out of the egg and how it should look, etc...
now that we know we have fertile eggs however, we are going to invest in an incubator for next time.
thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!
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