Hands on hatching and help

[Milkywayranchsc]

Hi, thank you for the detailed information you posted about assisting with hatching. I have a circumstance that is new to me. My mallard hen went broody and sat on a clutch of her eggs, pekin eggs and welsh harlequin eggs for almost four weeks. I moved them to a secure crate prior to hatching and she didn't like that. After three days of her refusing to sit on them anymore, I moved them to an incubator. One egg started to pip, and then zip. There were two pips about and inch apart with a thin line between. Then, nothing. I started to help, and gently opened the membrane around the bill, but there was blood. I missed the part about wiping coconut oil on the membrane first so the veins would be easier to see. I stopped when I saw blood and I tried again a few hours later. I got the little face out, and was able to peak inside the shell and saw what looked like a bit of yolk left to be absorbed (looks like a yellow pillow with small veins around it). Baby Sheldon has been wearing his remaining shell segment for 48 hours now without making any attempt to get out. He is still breathing. I still see blood in the membrane near the exposed edges and a small yellow "pillow" near the pointed end of the shell. He looks fully developed. What is going on? Did I help way too soon? Will he ever finish absorbing and be ready to come out?

 

[bernie131]

HELP, I HAVE A PEKIN/MALLARD baby chick that is moving and popping but no break in the egg and he sounds week, HOW LONG DO YOU WAIT TO MAKE A SAFETY HOLE? IT is the only viable egg and mama pekin is recovering from an attack and can't/won't assist. I NEED him to make it, it has been at least 24hrs since he started,..please help me on what to do!

 

[Milkywayranchsc]

I believe it is ok to go ahead and make a small safety hole, then put the egg back in with sufficient humidity (55-65% works fine for me).

There are good instructions on here for how to make the safety hole and when to go to the next step.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Go ahead and add a safety hole just remember ducks take forever to hatch... my memory says from internal pip to hatch feels like forever. Helping them out too soon can be worse than waiting. As long as it is yawning it is still absorbing the yolk... dont rush it.

 

[TayInTX]

Thank you for the information in this post! During my first hatch I had a malpositioned Buff Orp that piped on the side of the egg sitting on the incubator floor, away from the air cell. (Nurture Right 360 incubates eggs lying flat, which can result in this happening sometimes.) I saw the problem early and rotated the egg so the pip faced up. 22 hours later the chick completed an assisted hatch and lived! 100% hatch rate because of the wonderful advice here!

I had excellent results using warm melted coconut oil to keep membranes moist. Thank you to whoever wrote that tip!

 

[bernie131]

I bought a incubator today I am testing it and I made a SAFETY hole. It is about 4hrs, when do I consider making a little bigger hole?

 

[bernie131]

Well since it was 50 plus hours and after watching video after video I started helping him and got the other shell about 2/3 off and he has his head out and a toenail so I put him back in the incubator (I bought one today) and Shorty wanted nothing to do with him she semi attacked him, I held him up to her ear to hear him and she kinda snapped at him so I put him back. So,..now what?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well since it was 50 plus hours and after watching video after video I started helping him and got the other shell about 2/3 off and he has his head out and a toenail so I put him back in the incubator (I bought one today) and Shorty wanted nothing to do with him she semi attacked him, I held him up to her ear to hear him and she kinda snapped at him so I put him back. So,..now what?

Sounds like you might have to brood the chick separately or try introducing under mama after dark. If you have to brood separately, I would borrow another chick from mama to keep this one company.

 

[bernie131]

I don't have a brooder, other fertile eggs are n in the incubator. How do I brood him myself? When I put him under the lights he flips his head sideways and lays on his side. He peeps for me and when he hears my voice he runs to me and crawls on me or into my hand and sits there.

 

[bernie131]

Sounds like you might have to brood the chick separately or try introducing under mama after dark. If you have to brood separately, I would borrow another chick from mama to keep this one company.

There is no other chick that hatched yet