Hello! I know this is a super controversial topic and that there are very strong opinions about whether or not to assist in general. I'm asking specifically about what to do if the chick has been trying to break through the inner membrane for at least 24 hours.
Stats:
- Local chicken egg, started incubation 3/24/23 at 6pm so this the end of day 24 (I think)
- This egg has been incubated in my bra the entire time.
- The reason I've been candling during lockdown is that lockdown isn't actually super possible with a bracubated egg.
- Normal (if maybe slightly delayed) development over the course of incubation.
- I noticed shadowing last night around 5pm (by which I mean a blurry section of the air cell was moving up and down a significant amount like the beak was trying to break through) but the chick has not internally pipped in the day since then.
- There are no longer any super visible blood vessels anywhere around the air cell or egg.
So here's the thing-- I know that the egg is likely slower to develop due to lower temperatures, and that this is essentially a "dry hatch" because the humidity has been consistently low throughout incubation (my air cell is a good size though). I also know there's a decent chance that this chick will need help hatching, and I have read several articles on how to do that.
In this odd set of circumstances, I would rather try my best and fail than not try at all and lose the chick anyways. So here is my current plan and I would love any thoughts:
1. Make a small hole in the air cell near where the shadowing is occurring
2. Check for the presence of blood vessels in the membrane above (what I hope is) the beak
3a. If the beak is not visible, or there are still blood vessels in the membrane, moisten it with non-pain reliever bacitracin and leave it alone
3b. If the beak is clearly visible and there are no blood vessels nearby, moisten the membrane and make the world's most careful cut of all time, freeing the beak.
4. Hope I didn't mess up too badly.
Now that I'm thinking about it, moistening the membrane might be enough on its own to let the chick break through? That is probably the safer option.
Let's talk shrink-wrapping: From my understanding, the main reason shrink wrapping occurs is when the egg goes from a state of high humidity to a state of low humidity. Now I'm still running the risk by opening the egg, but I think it's a lower risk than if it had ever gone into "true" lockdown.
Stats:
- Local chicken egg, started incubation 3/24/23 at 6pm so this the end of day 24 (I think)
- This egg has been incubated in my bra the entire time.
- The reason I've been candling during lockdown is that lockdown isn't actually super possible with a bracubated egg.
- Normal (if maybe slightly delayed) development over the course of incubation.
- I noticed shadowing last night around 5pm (by which I mean a blurry section of the air cell was moving up and down a significant amount like the beak was trying to break through) but the chick has not internally pipped in the day since then.
- There are no longer any super visible blood vessels anywhere around the air cell or egg.
So here's the thing-- I know that the egg is likely slower to develop due to lower temperatures, and that this is essentially a "dry hatch" because the humidity has been consistently low throughout incubation (my air cell is a good size though). I also know there's a decent chance that this chick will need help hatching, and I have read several articles on how to do that.
In this odd set of circumstances, I would rather try my best and fail than not try at all and lose the chick anyways. So here is my current plan and I would love any thoughts:
1. Make a small hole in the air cell near where the shadowing is occurring
2. Check for the presence of blood vessels in the membrane above (what I hope is) the beak
3a. If the beak is not visible, or there are still blood vessels in the membrane, moisten it with non-pain reliever bacitracin and leave it alone
3b. If the beak is clearly visible and there are no blood vessels nearby, moisten the membrane and make the world's most careful cut of all time, freeing the beak.
4. Hope I didn't mess up too badly.
Now that I'm thinking about it, moistening the membrane might be enough on its own to let the chick break through? That is probably the safer option.
Let's talk shrink-wrapping: From my understanding, the main reason shrink wrapping occurs is when the egg goes from a state of high humidity to a state of low humidity. Now I'm still running the risk by opening the egg, but I think it's a lower risk than if it had ever gone into "true" lockdown.
