Warning dead chick question

[Hopeful homesteader]

I found a dead chick under my broody and I'm trying to guess how long it's been there. Her chicks just started hatching last night or earlier today and this one looks like it was fully formed but it was flat and dehydrated and barely starting to smell like a dead animal so I know it's been dead for a few days now. Idk if it hatched on it's own or if the hen crushed the egg but she's cleaned up all the egg shells as they hatch and I don't understand why she didn't get rid of the dead chick too? How long do you think it would take for a chick to reach this level of decomposition? I've seen other hens eat the dead ones before I can get to them and I know it's a normal part of keeping the nest clean but why keep sitting on the dead one for so long or at least kick it out of the nest. The smell is very mild but if I could smell it just by picking it up surely she had to have known it was under her right?

At any rate the hatch has been successful, started with 9 eggs, 6 are hatched, 1 is pipped, and waiting for the last one to pip so that's great news.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've never seen a hen eat a dead chick. They are usually smooshed up in the bedding. I haven't seen any hens remove eggs either, or the shells.

Hens don't generally assist with the hatch that I have seen. If they get out and than die she disregards it in my experiences and I find a dead chick in the corner. It possible it died in the shell a few days back and the shell dried up and came off it. Probably never know.