New chicken dad, eggs hatching! Need advice! PLEASE

[pikephillips322]

We are pretty new to chickens, weve had our silver duckwing bantums for about 6 months and our hen has been sitting on her first hatch and today we saw the first pip! So exciting! Later in the day we looked again and the egg that had pipped has started unzipping, its face is exposed and theres an opening about the size of a dime. The little fella isnt moving or responding at all now tho. I know its an exhausive process for the little guys tho and they need breaks but i was just concerned being a new chicken dad that something may have gappened and it didnt make it. Its still sitting minda under the hen, but shes on 11-12 eggs so its kinda out from inder her a bit too. So my first question is, is the baby ok? How long should i wait to see more progress? Second, our hen is sittiing in her nesting box. Should we take the babies and out in a brooder? Is it ok to leave them in the coop with mom and roos? Should we leave with mom and block the roos out of the coop and make them a temp home in the run? Please all advice is greatly appreciated. We ADORE our babies and want the little ones to be as happy and health as possible.
We have peafowl also and our peahen is an excellent mamma. Everything was so easy with her and luckily the dad didnt bother the babies at all. Just not sure if chickens will be the same. Thanks again!

 

[LaurEliz]

I have had chicks wait a very long time before coming out of the egg, even after making a lot of progress. With that being said, I have also had chicks need help coming out if it takes long. It is suggested to wait 24 hours before trying to help a chick out of the egg, but I have helped a chick out before without waiting that long. This chick had zipped completely but the membrane was stuck and dry to him, forcing him to stay in the "egg shape." I very carefully soaked the membrane part (careful to not drown the chick) in warm water and gently and slowly peeled it away a bit so the chick could finish hatching on his own. My chick survived and is healthy and there weren't complications beyond that. However, I read many websites/forum posts about how to assist a chick in hatching first. The main thing I remember is to do everything very slowly and stop if you see any blood, as if you help a chick at the wrong time, you could rupture a blood vessel and cause the chick to bleed out very quickly. I do not know if your chick is okay or not. I certainly hope he is.

As for your second question: I would move the hen and the babies to a separate area, if possible. I move my hens and the eggs a few days before the babies hatch. I also know that chicks will often follow mother hens around and not be bothered by the rest of the flock sometimes, but I always move them until they're bigger just to play it safe. I wouldn't just block the roos from the babies if you're going to go that route. I've seen hens be just as mean to baby chicks as roosters can be.

Good luck with your babies! I hope it all works out.

 

[pikephillips322]

I have had chicks wait a very long time before coming out of the egg, even after making a lot of progress. With that being said, I have also had chicks need help coming out if it takes long. It is suggested to wait 24 hours before trying to help a chick out of the egg, but I have helped a chick out before without waiting that long. This chick had zipped completely but the membrane was stuck and dry to him, forcing him to stay in the "egg shape." I very carefully soaked the membrane part (careful to not drown the chick) in warm water and gently and slowly peeled it away a bit so the chick could finish hatching on his own. My chick survived and is healthy and there weren't complications beyond that. However, I read many websites/forum posts about how to assist a chick in hatching first. The main thing I remember is to do everything very slowly and stop if you see any blood, as if you help a chick at the wrong time, you could rupture a blood vessel and cause the chick to bleed out very quickly. I do not know if your chick is okay or not. I certainly hope he is.

As for your second question: I would move the hen and the babies to a separate area, if possible. I move my hens and the eggs a few days before the babies hatch. I also know that chicks will often follow mother hens around and not be bothered by the rest of the flock sometimes, but I always move them until they're bigger just to play it safe. I wouldn't just block the roos from the babies if you're going to go that route. I've seen hens be just as mean to baby chicks as roosters can be.

Good luck with your babies! I hope it all works out.

Thank you soooo much! I would prefer to leave them with their mom and the rest of the crew as long as they are ok. I guess we will just need to watch to make sure there’s no aggression. What had me concerned was, like I said there’s a hole about the size of a dime or so, the memberane is gone from there too and we can see his little face perfectly. He just wasn’t moving or cheeping etc just completely still. But like I said I know it can be a tiresome process for them and they’ll need breaks so I’m hoping he’s just resting and absorbing and maybe in the morning will be safe and warm inder mamma! Thanks again, sometimes a little reassurance goes a long way and I love hearing others opinions about what works what doesn’t before I make a decision. Not everything works for every person or chicken every time and some times I guess it’s just blessings and trial and error but sheeeew like I said a little reassurance helps too!

 

[LaurEliz]

Thank you soooo much! I would prefer to leave them with their mom and the rest of the crew as long as they are ok. I guess we will just need to watch to make sure there’s no aggression. What had me concerned was, like I said there’s a hole about the size of a dime or so, the memberane is gone from there too and we can see his little face perfectly. He just wasn’t moving or cheeping etc just completely still. But like I said I know it can be a tiresome process for them and they’ll need breaks so I’m hoping he’s just resting and absorbing and maybe in the morning will be safe and warm inder mamma! Thanks again, sometimes a little reassurance goes a long way and I love hearing others opinions about what works what doesn’t before I make a decision. Not everything works for every person or chicken every time and some times I guess it’s just blessings and trial and error but sheeeew like I said a little reassurance helps too!

You're very welcome! Let me know how it works out! The one I helped out had a pretty big hole for a couple hours, I left, went to work, came home, and he had made very little progress. I went to town, got something to eat, watched an episode of a show, and he still hadn't made much progress and wasn't cheeping anymore and he ended up fine, even though there had been hours of him just sitting in the egg before I helped at all. And who knows, maybe if I had been a bit more patient he could have managed on his own too. I hope the same is going on with yours and you'll wake up to a fully hatched chick!

 

[pikephillips322]

We’ve got babies! Our first ever chicks!!

 

[LaurEliz]

We’ve got babies! Our first ever chicks!!

Yay! I am so happy for you!