Not great news unfortunately. We brought the eggs in after she set up camp outside the nest box again day yesterday. We kept them warm and brought the candler in this evening to have a look. One I could see feathers but no movement, two I couldn't see anything. They are dark brown eggs which doesn't help.
We gave up and I went to dispose of them. The first one popped when I tapped it against the sink and reeked. No development and a ticking time bomb. Funnily enough this is the one that she did sit on the other night, rejecting the other two.
The second one I cracked broke my heart. I was expecting it to pop but it didn't, there were black feathers and then they moved
It was very small with a large yolk sack that hadn't been absorbed. For some reason this chick was several days behind the others (they are 3 days old now). I held it until it stopped moving and felt very awful but I don't think there was anything I could have done for it. Maybe if I had an incubator I could have tried it in there, but there was no movement when we candled.
The third was likely the one that I had heard tapping on the shell. It was huge in the shell but still had a bit of yolk not absorbed and was lifeless.
I kind of wish I had done this during the day so I could have gone out and seen the four other chicks jumping around and remind myself that there is good from this hatch. I guess it is my first smallholding loss and as much as I try there will be more.
On the upside the other four are doing really well. One was even on mama hen's back when I went in today!
Does anyone have an idea of why these two chicks were so far behind the others? Especially the live but very underdeveloped one? I have a picture of the two of them I can PM if it helps. Just wondering if we can prevent this next time.
Thank you all for your help though, just wish it was better news :-(
Dans