I have hatched a few times but this is my second accidental hatching. (We went on vacation and the person who was supposed to collect our eggs didn't, so a hen went broody). This chick has made a big hole since this morning (about 9 hours ago) but hasn't made any moves to unzip. It still looks like the membrane has blood in it, so I think I should wait until tomorrow to help, but it also seems like it's in a weird position, like its head is over its back. I think this happened because my hens are broody when they feel like it, so the beginning stages of incubation were wonky. Should I help? Should I wait longer? The membrane is still clearish, but there are some stringy things stuck to the chick's beak....
Chick has a big hole but not unzipping
- Thread starter nuttykase
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Is the egg still under the broody hen? If so, I would leave her alone and wait until tomorrow to see, if the chick has hatched on its own.
And welcome to the BYC community!
I too would be worried and concerned, but I would leave it be for at least a full 24 hours myself. They say that's how long it can take for a chick to hatch.
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- #4
No. We can't leave our hens to hatch because the other hens continuously lay eggs on them and we end up with 20 eggs at all different stages of development and it is a pain to hatch them all. So I put them in the incubator and stop letting them sit on the eggs.Is the egg still under the broody hen? If so, I would leave her alone and wait until tomorrow to see, if the chick has hatched on its own.
And welcome to the BYC community!
Makes sense. But just the same, I would wait another day as you can do more harm than good if you help too early and the yolk has not yet been resorbed by the chick.
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- #6
I will leave it and just keep an eye on it. It definitely has a big enough hole to breathe, I'm just nervous that it will get shrink wrapped with such a big hole or will have trouble breathing in the weird position.
I can relate, watching them struggle just makes us want to help, but very often it is better to sit on our hands for at least 24 hours before we do.
Did the chick hit a blood vessel when pipping?
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- #8
I'm not sure? I don't know what that looks like. I knew this was going to be an iffy hatch because of the wonky incubation and most of the air sacs were saddle shaped, which I had never seen before. So far 4 have hatched and are doing well. I have this guy working on it, and about 10 more that may or may not hatch, but they were all at varying stages of development. I can't candle them at the moment of course.
Sometimes a chick is malpositioned and will hit a blood vessel when pipping. This leads to bleeding and the blood accumulates in the shell and can make hatching more difficult as the chick can get glued to the shell by the drying blood.
Do you have all the eggs in the same incubator?
Do you have all the eggs in the same incubator?
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- #10
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