24-30+ Hour Pipped Egg & Dry Membrane, HELP!

[BugBittenAnkles]

Hello All,

I'm a new (and accidental) chick mama and am freaking out. I posted this in the "incubating and hatching" board but, again, I am freaking out. (Sorry in advance.)

Yesterday, after having our young hen successfully hatch 10 eggs, we found another three left. One was a a successful hatch, but now I'm stuck with one chick who I'm afraid may be stuck in their shell. My own mother is adamant about manually helping the chick out but I wanted to wait the 24 hours. Apparently, he had pipped at 6pm yesterday (the 9th of June) and now it's getting closer to the 30 hour mark, and I just checked on him and his exposed membrane looked bone dry

I feel that it's partially my fault because in the morning I helped (I don't know if that should be in quote marks, unfortunately) chip away some shell that seemed to have separated from the membrane and promptly gave him back to mama hen who tucked him under (I do not have a incubator at all).

Here are some photos post-dampening. He was on a warm cloth while I inspected him. He was stirring a bit, moving his little beak around the open hole and peeping, but not making any move to start zipping, nor have I seen any progress of it.

We're experiencing a heatwave at the moment and it's about 80º in my room right now, but I have no idea what the humidity level is. I just know that the shallow bowl of water I'm putting with the eggs, other chicks & their mama in a box seems to evaporate noticeably over time (I'm refilling it, of course) but again, have no actual idea what the humidity is in the air, let alone under the mama's bum.

What should I do? I'm PETRIFIED of cracking the chick too early (maybe he's a late bloomer??) and the potential of killing him, but I'm already afraid I had interfered with his hatching process and, again, I have family members arguing that it's better to try and fail then to let the chick die in his shell >.<

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

Aww honey, it's time to start helping that baby. Those membranes look so so dry. You want to go very slowly, and if there is bleeding, stop. Gently crack bits of shell away, radiating out from the pip hole, but be very careful not to tear the inner membrane. Moisten as you go. When you can see the inner membrane and it is moistened, are there big thick red blood vessels sticking up? If so, the baby is not ready. S/he hasn't yet switched to internal circulation. Besides bleeding, the biggest risk would be that the baby hasn't finished absorbing their yolk sac, but at this point you've got to try. The poor thing must be exhausted. Do NOT beat yourself up! It's terrifying the first time to deal with this! You're doing a beautiful thing, giving that chickie a chance. Without you s/he would certainly die, so even if it dies at least you gave it a chance...and it's the most rewarding feeling ever to hatch a baby who just needed a little extra help!

Please check out our assisted hatching thread so you can get some good advice on how to proceed. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/

 

[The Phantom]

Hello All,

I'm a new (and accidental) chick mama and am freaking out. I posted this in the "incubating and hatching" board but, again, I am freaking out. (Sorry in advance.)

Yesterday, after having our young hen successfully hatch 10 eggs, we found another three left. One was a a successful hatch, but now I'm stuck with one chick who I'm afraid may be stuck in their shell. My own mother is adamant about manually helping the chick out but I wanted to wait the 24 hours. Apparently, he had pipped at 6pm yesterday (the 9th of June) and now it's getting closer to the 30 hour mark, and I just checked on him and his exposed membrane looked bone dry

I feel that it's partially my fault because in the morning I helped (I don't know if that should be in quote marks, unfortunately) chip away some shell that seemed to have separated from the membrane and promptly gave him back to mama hen who tucked him under (I do not have a incubator at all).

Here are some photos post-dampening. He was on a warm cloth while I inspected him. He was stirring a bit, moving his little beak around the open hole and peeping, but not making any move to start zipping, nor have I seen any progress of it.

We're experiencing a heatwave at the moment and it's about 80º in my room right now, but I have no idea what the humidity level is. I just know that the shallow bowl of water I'm putting with the eggs, other chicks & their mama in a box seems to evaporate noticeably over time (I'm refilling it, of course) but again, have no actual idea what the humidity is in the air, let alone under the mama's bum.

What should I do? I'm PETRIFIED of cracking the chick too early (maybe he's a late bloomer??) and the potential of killing him, but I'm already afraid I had interfered with his hatching process and, again, I have family members arguing that it's better to try and fail then to let the chick die in his shell >.<

When I have this issue, I usually wet the membrane, for helping him out, I start a tiny zip for them. Not too much but it can help get them started. You have to be EXTREMELY careful for blood vessels.

 

[BugBittenAnkles]

Aww honey, it's time to start helping that baby. Those membranes look so so dry. You want to go very slowly, and if there is bleeding, stop. Gently crack bits of shell away, radiating out from the pip hole, but be very careful not to tear the inner membrane. Moisten as you go. When you can see the inner membrane and it is moistened, are there big thick red blood vessels sticking up? If so, the baby is not ready. S/he hasn't yet switched to internal circulation. Besides bleeding, the biggest risk would be that the baby hasn't finished absorbing their yolk sac, but at this point you've got to try. The poor thing must be exhausted. Do NOT beat yourself up! It's terrifying the first time to deal with this! You're doing a beautiful thing, giving that chickie a chance. Without you s/he would certainly die, so even if it dies at least you gave it a chance...and it's the most rewarding feeling ever to hatch a baby who just needed a little extra help!

Please check out our assisted hatching thread so you can get some good advice on how to proceed. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/

Thank you so much. I still don't know what I'm looking for. I have successfully been able to remove the majority of the "cap" of the egg with the membrane still intact. I don't see any little veins like that step-by-step guide has. I don't see any red at all, though the membrane has shades of dark orange. I'm not sure if that means it's either because the membrane was so dry or if there was blood and it just dried. S/he's been peeping and wiggling around the whole time, so I'm happy they still have some fight in them!

Here's a pic of how they are now. They keep pushing against the membrane, tearing some of it around the cap of the shell I haven't chipped away at. I feel as though I should let them, but now I have no idea what the next step is. I have them on a towel again, and my room is still at 75-80º because of the heatwave, but should I put them under mom so they can finish hatching? I'm not sure how I feel about her beak when she prodded the egg under her before. Also, I'd be putting them in a box with the rest of their 11, 3-day old brethren! Is that safe??

I know I'm not out of the woods yet -- I don't know how this chick is going to look outside, if they still have a yolk attached to them or not, or even if they'll survive, but things are looking hopeful, so now all I need to know is the next steps of their life.

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

There is no pic? Sounds like it's time to remove chickie.

 

[BugBittenAnkles]

Update: S/HE HATCHED! S/HE HATCHED! S/HE HATCHED!!!!!!

They're a perfect little baby. Maybe it was a case of being stuck in the egg after all. There is no yolk, some of her feathers are already dry (probably from the pep hole, as it is her right wing/side that's much less damp) and there was no red, besides one skinny sliver left in the egg no longer than the width of my pinky nail (and I have small fingers). I do see what appears to be their first poop in the egg, so all in all I am so, so, SO happy I got them out

Unfortunately, I'm still a huge worrywart, and I know it might be too soon to celebrate completely. I've read that the chicks you end up having to help out don't last very long, and if they do, it's a few years shorter than their brethren. For now, I shoved 'em back under mama hen to take care of the warmth and will wait until tomorrow morning to check up and see how the little one is doing. I'm still scared, especially since my first attempt of putting them under mama resulted in her taking a step forward and stepping on them, but after I shut out the light and got her settled, I plopped the chick next to the infertile(?) egg she's still semi-brooding over, and some brothers/sisters joined in, so I'm hoping the extra insulation helps

 

[BugBittenAnkles]

There is no pic? Sounds like it's time to remove chickie.

Oh, sorry! Here are some pics: the first being the work I did, and the others with them having busted through. Is it a good idea to put her under her mother? Should I isolate the mom and the chick away from the other chicks? They had sort of walked over another chick that was born a couple days later, so I don't know how they'd fair with a newborn chick.

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

WELL DONE! You rock! I knew it was ready! The 'first poo' you saw is actually meconium, it's the waste collected during embryonic development and totally normal. I think the membranes just dried out, nothing was wrong with chickie. A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SILKIE!!!! Yes put the baby under mama and all will be well!

 

[Zinjifrah]

Update: S/HE HATCHED! S/HE HATCHED! S/HE HATCHED!!!!!!

They're a perfect little baby. Maybe it was a case of being stuck in the egg after all. There is no yolk, some of her feathers are already dry (probably from the pep hole, as it is her right wing/side that's much less damp) and there was no red, besides one skinny sliver left in the egg no longer than the width of my pinky nail (and I have small fingers). I do see what appears to be their first poop in the egg, so all in all I am so, so, SO happy I got them out

Unfortunately, I'm still a huge worrywart, and I know it might be too soon to celebrate completely. I've read that the chicks you end up having to help out don't last very long, and if they do, it's a few years shorter than their brethren. For now, I shoved 'em back under mama hen to take care of the warmth and will wait until tomorrow morning to check up and see how the little one is doing. I'm still scared, especially since my first attempt of putting them under mama resulted in her taking a step forward and stepping on them, but after I shut out the light and got her settled, I plopped the chick next to the infertile(?) egg she's still semi-brooding over, and some brothers/sisters joined in, so I'm hoping the extra insulation helps

I can't speak for overall longevity. However, I can tell you that of the three batches of eggs I've hatched, all three have had a chick than needed some help, even if it was just a little. My last batch, it was one that pipped at the wrong end of the egg. And all of those chicks that I helped are strong, lively chicks, ranging in age from about twelve weeks old to almost two weeks old. Not all chicks die, or are sickly. I read an accounting some time back of someone who saw their hen pull an egg out from under her, when it was having trouble hatching. Break the shell with her beak, pull the chick out of the shell, and stuff it underneath her - and it was a healthy chick. I can't vouch for how factual that accounting was, just being a reader of it, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were accurate. If so, even a hen will assist!

One of the reasons it wouldn't surprise me if it were accurate is a species very dissimilar to chickens. Actually, they find them delicious. Crocodiles not only guard their nests, but if an egg is having trouble hatching, there's numerous accounts of the mother taking the egg between her jaws, and gently cracking it to help the hatchling out.

 

[BugBittenAnkles]

WELL DONE! You rock! I knew it was ready! The 'first poo' you saw is actually meconium, it's the waste collected during embryonic development and totally normal. I think the membranes just dried out, nothing was wrong with chickie. A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SILKIE!!!! Yes put the baby under mama and all will be well!

YES!! Thank you so much for coaching me through these harrowing times of mine, haha.

The chick is doing just fine. They're a bit smaller than the rest of their brothers/sisters, but is eating, drinking, and sticking super close to mama hen. I'll probably post a picture later (my phone's camera took a wonderful time to stop working inexplicably ) but I wanted to give a last update in case others were wondering

Thank you all SOOOOO much!!!