Hands on hatching and help

[HeidiGetsChicks]

It’s totally up to you and what you think, but I probably would take a sterile pair of tweezers and take another piece or two off to see if it would help it get the end of the egg off. When I had trouble with one of mine zipping, someone told me a zip should be about an hour. If there’s no other pips, the rest won’t get shrink wrapped. If you decide to do that, make sure the humidity is high and try to do it quickly so the incubator isn’t opened too long.

Thanks!
The membrane was hardened and stuck completely to its feathers, preventing it from emerging. I softened it with water until I could very gently work the tweezers between the membrane and the chick, and then ultimately cut it with scissors because it was just so hardened and stuck.
And then I slowly removed the rest of the eggshell around it a bit at a time. The chick was struggling hard to get out and came out in my hand.
Seems to be doing okay!

 

[LTAY1946]

I waited until what I thought was the last minute and it was. I had 2 that had become shrink wrapped. I almost didn't do enough soon enough. After maintaining a 70% humidity after lock down I didn't expect this to happen. All is well now. I lost one that pipped and gave up our of 34 good eggs. 34 is better than 32.

 

[Iluveggers]

Thanks!
The membrane was hardened and stuck completely to its feathers, preventing it from emerging. I softened it with water until I could very gently work the tweezers between the membrane and the chick, and then ultimately cut it with scissors because it was just so hardened and stuck.
And then I slowly removed the rest of the eggshell around it a bit at a time. The chick was struggling hard to get out and came out in my hand.
Seems to be doing okay!

Oh thank goodness! Good instinct to step in for sure. If you don’t have any, coconut oil is a great supply to have on hand. If you happen to notice a dried membrane before it gets to that point, you can put coconut oil on it with a cotton swab, to help keep it moist more than water.

 

[HuDa2022]

Is this where I go to get help woth an assisted hatch? My turkey pipped over 24 hours ago and nothing changes so I got tweezers and neosporin and opened up the air vent end, the membrane was stuck to him instead of the shell and had a little blood so I put neosporin on the membrane and stopped, you think he will have a chance of making it? I will wait a couple hours and check on the progress again?

 

[Pyxis]

Is this where I go to get help woth an assisted hatch? My turkey pipped over 24 hours ago and nothing changes so I got tweezers and neosporin and opened up the air vent end, the membrane was stuck to him instead of the shell and had a little blood so I put neosporin on the membrane and stopped, you think he will have a chance of making it? I will wait a couple hours and check on the progress again?

If you're seeing blood, it's still too early for the hatch. For now, just sit tight and wait. You may have to assist further, or it may be able to make it on its own from here. Any chance you can post a picture?

 

[westernchickenlady89]

Hello all, I've been reading this thread and also the Assist a chick guide. My question is I need more clear instructions what to do when chick has not internally pipped and is mal-positioned.
This is day 23. The I had 15 eggs hatch starting the evening of day 20-through day 21. On day 20 I saw this egg moving and jerking. I candled yesterday and could see it was still moving. I made a safety hole last night. This morning I removed shell and put coconut oil on. I cannot see the head, and blood vessels are still not absorbed. What can I do? I do see this on the shell, but I think that has been there for awhile. I know this baby wants to live!

 

[Smhoff]

My egg is in day 25. I candle and see movement. Also did the water test. Put it back in the incubator for the last several hours but still hear nothing. Should I start insisting?

 

[lorastorm]

Hi all! My quail hen hatched two cute little chicks 2.5 days ago, within an hour or so of each other. She has been hanging out with them today, off the nest, so I put her remaining eggs in my incubator (I have never hatched anything, so this is all new to me ).

I can see two eggs shake when I talk thru the window to them, but I have no idea what day this is for them! How would I know if/when they need a safety hole/assistance? The directions at the start of this thread were lovely, but seem to be exclusively for folks who have seen a pip? I do not want to meddle too soon, but wasn’t sure how many days to wait.

Thank you so much for your kind assist to me!

 

[NewbieChickieMama]

I'm not an expert, but I did do about 10 incubated hatches, so in my experience, if the egg is rockin' and rollin', it's all good. They are getting ready to pip. Just have them in lockdown mode, try not to keep opening the incubator, monitor them from outside the incubator if possible. Sometimes it can take several days from shaky egg to pip, so don't panic. I don't know what the humidity setting should be for quail, but with chickens it's a higher setting during lockdown.

If your hen was laying eggs and sitting on them, it's very possible for the ones that have already hatched to be several days ahead of other eggs, so they will hatch later. On the other hand, all my experience is with chickens, not quail, lol.

 

[lorastorm]

Sometimes it can take several days from shaky egg to pip, so don't panic.

Ahhh this is SO helpful, thank you! I wasn't sure what the timeframe was, so knowing it could be days after spotting egg wobbles puts me at ease. (I can't imagine quail and chickens being too different there!)

I'm trying to stay hands-off, incubator closed, and humidity around their recommended 65% (though it's tricky to refill/maintain the sponge for the proper humidity...how do you guys do that? I saw a handy/humorous straw contraption someone had -- is that just par for the course?).

The eggs that were so active last afternoon don't seem to be moving at all today, but maybe they're pooped from all that movement yesterday! I did read a cool older article (while I've been stressing about them) that said in the last bit of their pre-hatch development, the embryos enter a wake/sleep cycle. Nobody pipped yet...fingers crossed!