Three months ago today, we had three of about 12 eggs hatch. We waited for three more days and none of the others hatched. Lindsey, the broody hen (see footnote), gave up sitting on the remaining eggs so that she could tend to her three chicks. We waited a couple more days and decided it was time to dispose of the remaining eggs. But then Rob noticed that there was movement in two of the remaining eggs.
We then consulted the Farmer's Encyclopedia aka Google. There is much debate on whether or not humans should assist in hatching. Some site that it is survival of the fittest and nature should take its course. Others say that chicks must hatch on their own to develop their legs properly (kicking an eggshell off of you apparently takes a lot of effort.) Others said they always help chicks who appear to be struggling.
Since Lindsey was no longer able to devote the time to sitting and we didn't have an incubator, we decided to intervene and give the poor things a chance. Some hens lay harder eggs than others and the chicks have more difficulty getting out but are otherwise in good health.
Armed with a sterile pair of tweezers, small scissors, a wet rag, and a box with a heating lamp, Dr. Rob and I began the egg-cesarian.
He gently pulled a large amount of shell, being very careful that the shell did not cut the chicks. We left the bottom portion of the shell on (about 1/3 of the whole shell) so that the chicks could work their legs to kick it off. But after a couple of hours, they just flopped around and we decided to just pull it off. PS-There is an umbilical cord you have to cut..weird, I never knew that.
After a few hours we noticed that one chick was pretty spry, kicking and moving its wings but not walking yet. The other chick lay pretty listless. We gave them both Sav-a-chick electrolyte water from a small dropper since they could not yet walk to the water.
This is graphic, if you are sensitive, dont read--- scroll to "safe to read":
The listless chick ended up having a sort of bowel explosion. I guess he was not developed enough internally. Rob had to "cull" the chick which is a natural part of farming. Cull is a farming word for euthanize, I guess. You can Google the most humane way to do this. This was really tough for us! It was the moment when the hard part of hobby farming became reality. No matter how small, Rob and I appreciate all life and even though it was the right thing to do, it didnt feel good.
OKAY, SAD PART OVER, SAFE TO READ
We still had one kickin baby chicken that we saved. Over the next two days we dropper fed him and nudged to him the shallow water dish. He began walking and chirping on his own, much to our delight.
It was now time to introduce him to his mom and fellow chicks in the coop. At first when we put him in the coop Lindsey charged at him! We couldn't believe it! After we pulled this poor chick from the brink of death we expected an amazing reunion between mom and baby complete with music and a long dramatic hug.
Rob quickly snatched the chick up. Then, in an unprecedented move, we didn't Google something. Rob decided to get all the chicks from the coop (no small feat with an angry mom around). He put the new chick and old chicks together and let them rub their scents on each other before returning them to the coop. I think Lindsey knew we pulled a fast one as she counted her chicks and looked up at us with a slanted suspicious eye. But it worked! She quickly resumed pecking around and has continued to care for all chicks until we returned them to the big coop.
I am proud to say that three months later he is just as healthy as the other chicks. So the debate continues on whether or not to assist in hatching. It worked out for one chick but not the other.
Broody hens and such:
Not all hens have the maternal instinct to lay on eggs. Most just lay their egg and go about their day. We had the chickens for three months and none of our hens appeared interested in laying for most of that time. Then our Lindsey began sitting on the eggs for about an hour and then get up. She did this for a few days as if practicing.
If you have chickens you know that the hens prefer the same nesting box. Every day. We decided to not gather eggs for a few days and see what Lindsey would do. Each hen continued to lay in their favorite nesting box until there were about 9 in all. At that point, Lindsey became a full time sitter.
We made a couple of mistakes though:
Mistake 1. We read that you could add eggs, previously refrigerated, to the nest for hatching. But I think we did this too late which is why not many hatched. She was forced to decide whether to take care of her chicks or eggs and had to choose her chicks of course.
(Warning, I am not a scientist so I am sure my verbage is incorrect but this is the cliff note version of Egg Sex Ed) Eggs are amazing. If fertilized, the pre-embryo lays dormant for up to about 14 days until warmed by either the hen or an incubator. Once warmed, the embryo finishes forming over the next 21 days. For example, an egg layed on Jan 1st and an egg layed on Jan 10th will both develop at the same rate starting on whatever day the hen starts sitting and will hatch on about the same day. Pretty cool huh?
Mistake #2: we should have closed off the coop sooner because we caught a couple of hens sitting on top of Lindsey trying to lay in the same ole favorite nesting box. We thought they would just lay in the other boxes, but no. This could have caused an egg to be cracked.
What we did right:
We closed the coop to the other chickens so they had to roost in the open area in their pen. This didnt seem to bother them and once given no other choice, they began laying again in the nesting box in the pen.
We put a coffee cup of water and a bowl next to Lindsey. She very very very rarely got up from her nest once she started sitting.
On a gross note, after the chicks hatched, she poo-ed the most awful smelling massive poo ever in the coop. Guess she had been holding that. :-/
The rest is history as documented above. We gave Lindsey and the chicks starter feed until 2 1/2 months old. We then switched them to a layer feed and as of last week (almost 3 months old) we introduced them to the rest of the flock. They have been put in their pecking order, as hens will do.
Since Chuck had previously placed the turkeys at the bottom of the flock, the turkeys were more than delighted to be "over" the chicks and let them know it. Now the turkeys and the chicks hang out together around the yard as the flock's un-cool gang. At night they all sleep together as one semi-happy family. It just takes a few minutes for everyone to find their place.
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