So over a month ago I ordered fake eggs. They finally came.

I had put Pippin's current clutch of four in the freezer for a bit to render them unviable, about 18 or so days ago. You see where this is going, I trust.

Whilst swapping the fake eggs and the real eggs (as I'm pretty sure one of the real eggs might burst from bacteria, it's pretty gross and all black)...I noticed one egg had a crack in it.

A crack that looked suspiciously like a pip.

It is hatching.

Obviously this one wasn't in the freezer long enough. Have you checked the other eggs to see if they're viable?

As far as your adult birds' health is concerned this isn't so bad. They've only raised one clutch so they're not worn out with physical strain. But it's not so great for the mental health of the human who didn't want any more babies.

I only put them in for 15-20 minutes. While JJ is quite happy to stay out of the nest box for longer than that on his own terms, if he is prevented from doing so he starts attacking the box and trying to pull out the rag I stuff in the hole. 20 minutes of him throwing a fit is about all I could stand. I figured that was long enough...apparently not!

It's a little whiteface. And I mean little. It's as small as the runt from their last clutch, who did grow pretty well but is still noticeably smaller than the rest. I hope the cold didn't do something to it developmentally.

They had four eggs. One was very very clearly dead and starting to rot, and I threw that one away. I am fairly certain another is dead, because fluid or something moves around in the air cell when I tilt the egg. The other might be viable, although it's pretty grey when candled.

Time will tell. All you can do now is wait and see.

Maybe you could name the chick Frosty.

Oh, the chick is already Elsa, since apparently the cold doesn't bother it anyway.

HAHAHAHAHA