Well they had all hatched by the time I got back home yesterday except one. So I broke half the shell off and let him do the rest. This morning when I checked on him he was dead exactly the way i left him in the shell. All of you guys were right when you said that only the strong survive. Hopefully the next hatch is better if not I'll try the experiment and get back to you all.
Thanks
birdman21,
It is only human instinct to intervene in the general wild life population. Wild life in general will cull their young. Wild life will abandon their own when they know they are sick, or even being the runt.
A hen will push aside an egg if she feels that there is a problem with it. A hen will not help a chick out of the shell. If the chicks make the transition from the shell, she will brood it with her clutch. She will hide all the chicks under her feathers and under her wing.
If a chick decides to venture off from where she is at, she will not go looking for the chick. When she decides to leave the nest with her brood, the chicks will follow either under her or alongside, or behind. When she settles in, her brood will hide under her and under her wing.
The Law of Nature is cruel and not forgiving. We on the other hand, try to change the outlook of The Law of Nature, by helping the weak, the runts and the undesirables.
We as human beings stick our $.02 where it doesn’t belong. We pick up all sorts of wild life that should be left alone, and in most states it is illegal to harbor any sort of wild life with out the proper permits either as pets, or under animal husbandry, or as a wild life rehabilitator.
So the same goes for helping chicks out of their shells. If your hatchery has the proper humidity level, and chicks are starting the hatching phase, let nature take its course. Some chick will blast their way out of the shells while others may take up to 12 hrs or more.
It all depends on the development of the chick during the incubation period.
Chicks will peck there way around the shell and stop for hours before they start again. This doesn’t mean they are distressed, just tired, although, some never make it out. These are the ones that are either growth stunted, or have abnormalities that will eventually show up either after the 24-hour dry time, or within the first 3 weeks of life.
Don’t give up, just don’t intervene. Your better off letting the chick expire, then feeling like
when the chick does die within as little as hours or within days.
I have been there and I have had my fare share, and so has 90% of the other members’ here.
Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm