Pip hole gummed up ? Chicks Hatching day 20

[Lukechicks]

I am on day 20 and the first of my cream leg bars made a pip hole yesterday at about 8.30 pm, this morning at about 9.30 am, I became very concerned as very little progress had been made and there was a lot of dried gummy stuff - what looked like dried egg white around the pip hole almost blocking the hole up, I could see the chicks beak and it looked as though there is watery stuff all around it and like it might be struggling to get enough air, what should I do ? Should I help it get more air ?

 

[Cody A]

Hello Luke,

I'm a newbie at hatching myself. I have chicks hatching as I type this, It can take 24 hrs or longer from the chicks pipping the shell to when they begin to unzip. Assisting when hatching is really a last resort. Give it some time it will most likely hatch on it's own.
Be sure to read through this while your waiting. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I was going to give you the link that Cody gave you and suggest taking a read at that. I would examine the pip a little closer though as it shouldn't be oozing anything. It is better that a chick hatches itself and assisting should be only in cases you really feel there is a problem, but what you are describing doesn't sound right to me. At least nothing I have delt with during hatch.

I personally (and remember this is from my view) would examine it and if it is indeed being covered with something I would expand the pip whole a bit to get a better idea of what is going on and clear it so that the chick is indeed getting air. If it looks ok on closer inspection I would moisten the membrane and put it back in the bator and give it a bit more time. That is what I would peraonally do. My philosophy is only do what you are comfortable doing.

 

[Lukechicks]

Thanks for your replies, I was concerned that the chick may be in trouble, as that particular egg when candled showed only a very small air space and I thought the chick may have a bit too much fluid in the egg when I checked on day 18 - it is also rather a large egg too.

I did remove the egg and attempted to widen the hole but ended up breaking the top bit of the shell off !! I thought for sure I had killed the chick as I caused a couple of small drops of blood ! Anyway I put it back in the incubator and have not given it any further help - there has been no further bleeding.

It is breathing well now and cheeping and occasionally struggling. I do believe that the chick had insufficient air sack and that is why its beak came through the shell so soon, I also believe it may well have drown in fluid unaided as the pip hole did not look right at all - with quite a bit of dried gummy egg white oozing and drying around the edges of it obscuring the chick's oxygen supply.

I will not give the chick anymore help at this point, I see a light sack membrane still covering the exposed part of the chick -apart from its beak that is now clear of fluid. My worry is the membrane will dry out too much, but I figure I will wait till the other chicks have hatched and if this chick has still not pushed its way free by then, I will moisten the membrane and help it a little more so it can struggle its way out, but I have a feeling it is not ready to be free of the egg yet and am hoping it will be able to free itself when it is ready.

My main concern was that it was slowly drowning and I can see that is not an issue now - I hope I have done the right thing in helping but only time will tell. Out of the other 17 confirmed living and fertile eggs x4 have piped holes that appear normal so I am hoping not to open the incubator at this point for fear of affecting the others. I am finding this very exciting but stressful all at the same time !! It can be hard to know the right thing to do when you spot something you know is not right, I keep thinking perhaps I should have just let nature take its course whatever the outcome, but on the other hand I did not want to loose an otherwise apparently healthy chick

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks for your replies, I was concerned that the chick may be in trouble, as that particular egg when candled showed only a very small air space and I thought the chick may have a bit too much fluid in the egg when I checked on day 18 - it is also rather a large egg too.

I did remove the egg and attempted to widen the hole but ended up breaking the top bit of the shell off !! I thought for sure I had killed the chick as I caused a couple of small drops of blood ! Anyway I put it back in the incubator and have not given it any further help - there has been no further bleeding.

It is breathing well now and cheeping and occasionally struggling. I do believe that the chick had insufficient air sack and that is why its beak came through the shell so soon, I also believe it may well have drown in fluid unaided as the pip hole did not look right at all - with quite a bit of dried gummy egg white oozing and drying around the edges of it obscuring the chick's oxygen supply.

I will not give the chick anymore help at this point, I see a light sack membrane still covering the exposed part of the chick -apart from its beak that is now clear of fluid. My worry is the membrane will dry out too much, but I figure I will wait till the other chicks have hatched and if this chick has still not pushed its way free by then, I will moisten the membrane and help it a little more so it can struggle its way out, but I have a feeling it is not ready to be free of the egg yet and am hoping it will be able to free itself when it is ready.

My main concern was that it was slowly drowning and I can see that is not an issue now - I hope I have done the right thing in helping but only time will tell. Out of the other 17 confirmed living and fertile eggs x4 have piped holes that appear normal so I am hoping not to open the incubator at this point for fear of affecting the others. I am finding this very exciting but stressful all at the same time !! It can be hard to know the right thing to do when you spot something you know is not right, I keep thinking perhaps I should have just let nature take its course whatever the outcome, but on the other hand I did not want to loose an otherwise apparently healthy chick

I believe you do what you believe is right. Because you can not know the outcome you can only do what your judgement guides you to do. Wether right or wrong that's what you do. No matter what you do do, you are going to second guess wether it was the right thing to do.

If the membrane appears to dry out too much youcan wet a paper towel and wrap it around the egg.

My last hatch, one of the three that died before hatching was a large egg. When I eggtopsied I found quite a bit of extra moisture in the shell and I believe because of the size and probably the shell quality of the egg, that particular egg did not release enough of the moisture and caused him to drown. It was the only one that had that problem and was the biggest egg in that set. He had already started to absorb the yolk and was perfectly formed, but there was a lot of extra space in the egg too.

 

[Lukechicks]

Thanks AmyLynn, you are right I am going to stop fretting about it and just see what happens, I very quickly opened the incubator so I could wrap the troubled egg in damp paper, the chick is making a fair bit of noise so at least it has a healthy pair of lungs

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Keeping fingers crossed for you!

 

[Lukechicks]

Hi just thought i would update on my hatch, the little cream leg bar girl I helped was first to push free of her shell and has done fine WEW !! She was quickly followed by a sister and a brother Cream Leg Bar who hatched out of smaller sized eggs just fine with no assistance. The are still 14 eggs in the incubator - two Wheaten Maran have piped and three Buff Sussex. There is still Cream Leg Bar, Barnevelder, Wheaten Maran, Silver Laced Whyndotte and a couple of Buff Sussex that have not decided to pip yet but are rolling around

 

[AmyLynn2374]

That's awesome! Glad to hear that she is doingwell and out!

 

[Sambi89]

Yaye for the new girl! I can't wait to hear about how well the others do!