AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi everyone,
I just had a chicken (hatched under a broody) pip externally through it's egg only to die.
I opened the egg and found that the chick was perfectly formed, except that it hadn't fully absorbed the yolk.
There was no sign of bacteria.
I don't know much about when chickens are supposed to absorb the yolk, and I was hoping that you guys could teach me about that and perhaps explain what went wrong for this little baby.
Thanks so much for your help & wisdom!

Another chick has just hatched, it's managed to free itself from the egg, but it too has a yellow, yolkish looking rear.
Is this normal??
The mum also started to eat the eggshell that the baby hatched from ... i freaked out and took it away, for fear that she would start attacking the other unhatched eggs. Was her behaviour normal? Should I have left the eggshell?
Thank you!

Hi A

Below is a link to the Stickies on this part of the forum there is some info on the chicken embryo forming.

I don't know a lot about why your chick died while trying to come out. Maybe he just wasn't strong enough to break out, because this is apparently a very big ordeal for these little guys.

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=8000

As for the mum eating the egg that sounds pretty natural to me. Other animals eat the afterbirth of their babies, so this could be the same for chickens.

Hope this helps

Hi, asthecrowflieswave ,

This is the "yolk sack" or "food sack" and is a chicks food supply for the first 24 hours after hatching, they survive by absorbing the nutrients from the yoke. Sometimes you don't see this as the chicks live under their mum for the first two days and it is absorbed in to the chicks body as it "feeds" on it. It is normal and Mother Nature's way of nourishing the newborn. Sometimes it is best to let things be and not intervene especially if they are under a broody.

It can take up to 3 days for a chick to hatch after it "peeps", no doubt a very eggshausting eggsperience for one so little and some are just too tired to continue and don't make it out or die after hatching Sometimes if you help a chick hatch out of their egg, they may bleed to death as you are ripping away it's sack their life/food supply. Chicks that don't make it may have a very good genetic reason why they didn't survive.

Broody's I imagine are rather hungry after sitting for 18-21 days with very little food and the remaining yolk is probably a rich source of nutrients for them and as long as she isn't attacking or eating her young I would let nature takes it's course.

My 2 silkies have a habit of cleaning up the nest after the hatch by neatly inserting one half of the shell inside the other and pushing them aside. I imagine if I were to actually observe this process (I've never seen it, just the result) it might look like they were trying to eat the shell.

You have very neat and tidy silkies!

Dear Chicka-Dee, Petite Poulet & Wickedwings,

Thank you so much for replying to my post and sharing your wisdom & experience.
It really helped!

I think that my hen was doing what you said, feeding on the nutrients left behind in the eggshell. She's turning out to be a beautiful mum and the chick 'Blueberry' (named by our daughter ) is thriving. Phew!!

Petite Poulet, a special thanks to you for explaining the absorption process of the yolk sack and purpose behind it. What an amazing part of nature!

Love,
A

Glad to be of help! Don't forget to post baby photos of Blueberry and her mum.

Thank you, kindly

i love the name Blueberry ... it's a lovely name for a chicken !


cant wait to see pictures of them.

I have seen one of my hen eating the hatch egg shell now I know why seems the chick did not use all the birth food