What the heck am I doing wrong?

[nomirawr1]

We have ABYSMAL hatching rates, and I have no frickin idea why, because I'm hatching under hens!

Hatch 1: give 6 RIR/BR eggs to Wyandotte. Day 2, she cracks one open under her (probably from digging down too far/hitting timber and cracking it). Day 10 candle and 1 blood ring. Day 15 go check on them to find she's eaten all the shells/yolks and 4 perfect babies on the floor. (yes, I know it was her, there was litterally nothing else that could have gotten into the coop where she was!)

Hatch 2: give 8 welsummer eggs to Australorp. Day 1, same deal, cracks an egg on the timber floor. Day 10 candle and 1 blood ring, all others developing well. Day 20 - 1 egg pips. Day 21 - one hatches and I had to help one zip. The one I helped was weak & died next day. The remaining 4 were late quitters - day 18/19. We got one single chick from this lot.

Hatch 3: Give 12 mixed breed (light sussex/Shaver) eggs to Australorp. Day 1 she kicks 4 eggs out. I put them back in. Day 2 she's kicked out 3, and broken them. Day 3 she's kicked out another 3 (also broken - not eaten, just chipped/cracked). Day 7 candle and 4 look ok, 2 need recandled later. Day 9, kicked another one out of the nest. I cracked it open, since it was stone cold, and it was one of the perfect developing ones!. We're down to 5 eggs and we're only on day 8 ffs!
All the eggs she kicked out and broke too - were fertile. I could see clearly the bullseye white bit on the yolks.

I'm not messing with them all the time. They're with mates (through wire, so not accessable to other chooks). Hens have plenty of food/water. Switched the hay for clod of dirt so they'd stop digging to timber & accidentally breaking them. It's summer, so the weather is warm. Australorp is sitting tight on the nest, so she's def proper broody...

IDK... WHAT THE EGG AM I DOING WRONG?!?
This is a hugely expensive exercise, since I don't have (can't have) a rooster for our own eggs to hatch!

 

[Sagey_7878]

I don’t think you’re doing anhthkng wrong! But you sure do have some weird broody hens! I think it’s time for you to try using an incubator to hatch chicks! You have the fertile eggs, but the hens keep killing them, so they’ll be safe in the incubator and you’ll probably get a good hatch rate. Then you will have to put the chicks in a brooder etc... Maybe if a hen is still broody, you could slip some chicks under her at night and see if that’s better, but have a brooder on standby!

 

[happyhens1972]

Are the hens actually broody? If so, how long have they been broody before you put eggs under them? How experienced are they? xx

 

[nomirawr1]

Are the hens actually broody? If so, how long have they been broody before you put eggs under them? How experienced are they? xx

Yep, hens both broody. We no longer have the wyandotte anymore (she was attacking our surviving welsummer, so she was rehomed).
The wyandotte had been broody for about 5 days on fake eggs, before slipping real eggs under her.
Australorp was broody for 7 days before getting real eggs the first time.
This time she was broody for 3 days before getting eggs.

All 3 times definitely broody - hoarding eggs, growling and fluffing up on the nest. All sat tight while there was eggs to sit on. Wyandotte only got off eggs on day 15, and was clearly not broody after that. Australorp would sit and sit and sit and sit until there's babies.
Wyandotte was first hatch. I don't know if the welsummers were the Australorps first hatch. It's possible, but I'm really not sure.

Unfortunately, due to where I live, I can't get eggs instantly - I live in the middle of nowhere.

 

[nomirawr1]

I don’t think you’re doing anhthkng wrong! But you sure do have some weird broody hens! I think it’s time for you to try using an incubator to hatch chicks! You have the fertile eggs, but the hens keep killing them, so they’ll be safe in the incubator and you’ll probably get a good hatch rate. Then you will have to put the chicks in a brooder etc... Maybe if a hen is still broody, you could slip some chicks under her at night and see if that’s better, but have a brooder on standby!

If this lot fails (any more than it already has!) we're going to quit raising babies and stick with buying in hens. Incubators here are insanely expensive, as are brooder warmers. Here they're in the vicinity of $400 for a decent 24 egg incubator and another $200 for a brooder warmer.

 

[Latestarter]

Not knowing your hens previous hatching experience, coupled with broodiness having been bred out of most breeds, as they are more wanted as egg laying machines (or fast growing meat) than brood hens. Many pullets/hens who do go broody don't fare well on their first or even second attempts. There are exceptions to this such as silkies and some other breeds who are brooding machines. Since you are miles from civilization (this being the case, why can't you have a roo?) and have to pay big $$ for shipped in eggs, why not take the leap and get an incubator where you can control the outcome better? That would be my recommendation.

Actually, if you have a little building smarts, you could build your own incubator. Use a thermometer to ensure the heat/temp is right before you actually use it, and go from there.

 

[Latestarter]

Same for a brooder... you can build a basic brooder in a day. Mostly from scraps that you have or a large cardboard box even. Some folks have used a spare bathroom bathtub as a brooder... I mean, really, it's all a matter of what you have available and some ingenuity...

 

[Sagey_7878]

Same for a brooder... you can build a basic brooder in a day. Mostly from scraps that you have or a large cardboard box even. Some folks have used a spare bathroom bathtub as a brooder... I mean, really, it's all a matter of what you have available and some ingenuity...

X2

 

[nomirawr1]

I'm not miles from civilisation - but I live in a small town which is a while from anywhere I can get eggs - still considered 'urban'... so rules = no roosters.

The first lot of eggs, I drove to pick up on the day they were collected. The second lot were shipped. The third lot i pinched from a friend, and were not shipped.
Shipped or not - they mostly developed fine. First lot had 4 properly developing chicks. Second lot had 6 well developing chicks, until the end. Hard to say with the third lot, because we've lost so many of them.

The big $$ isn't for the shipping of the eggs. It's eggs in general. Depending on breed, you're looking at $2-4 per egg. Mixed or common breeds $2, more unusual breeds are more.

 

[Latestarter]

Therefore, I advise what I did before... build your own incubator from an old Styrofoam cooler or some other cooler. Build an insulated wooden box incubator. A heat lamp and small fan for air circulation as well as a thermometer to keep track of temp and turn the eggs multiple times a day, a small bowl of water to add humidity if needed, It's not that expensive or difficult and there are threads on here about building incubators you can peruse. The brooder issue is even more simple as temp is not as critical... Give a heat source for them to move to when cold, and an area to cool down in when too hot and you've got it handled. It will be more an issue as they fledge and start flying out of the brooder you make. You'll need some screening or fencing to cover it with to keep them in.