- Jun 15, 2008
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The veins themselves may not be absorbed but the blood in them is. You want that blood in the chick not dried out or bleeding out all over. Wrap the damp paper towel around the membrane keeping the beak completely clear. Do not touch except to rewet as needed for another 4-6hrs. Check it then to see how well the blood is absorbing. If there are still visible veins recover and wait another 4-6hrs. That chick wasn't ready to hatch for at least another 5 hrs if not 12+ anyway. I'd be inclined to leave it overnight with the humidity in the bator run up as high as possible and the beak kept clear of touching anything or falling back into the egg so it won't drown. Preferably I'd try to stay up late enough that enough blood is absorbed you can wiggle the head out without causing more blood loss. Then you can raise humidity without much worry and you won't risk it drying out overnight. When you do check it and finally see plain white membrane with no large blood vessels slit down the membrane until you can pull the chick straight so it's bottom half is still in the egg but it's not curled up. It should push it's own way out from there.