In the last year before we moved to the new house, our determined hens hatched and raised about 20 chicks in a dog crate. While the work began between two hens, it wasn't long before our Queen Hen, Gracie, took over the whole batch for herself.
Included in this little hoard, was Miracle. Miracle was the Chick Who Should Not Have Been. Shortly into the brooding process, Miracles egg was cracked. The membrane was still intact, and Gracie bit quite furiously whenever someone tried to move one of her eggs, so I waited until the day she gave up on it and pushed it out of the nest. Only she never did and several weeks later, movement and peeping came from the cracked egg!
A day or two before we estimated Miracle was due to hatch, Rooster George decided he was missing his lady, and barreled his way in to her next box to check out the situation. She chased him right back out, but not before he had utterly crushed Miracle's egg.
We were heart broken. This little chick had already overcome the odds against it and gotten so close! I picked up the egg, and sure enough, not only was the shell destroyed, but the membrane was now shredded. Against all hopes, I took it in the house, and spend a long, grueling night with warm, wet paper towels and a heat lamp.
The next morning... Well, see for yourselves!
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