Helping a Chick Out of the Shell?

[blucoondawg]

An artificial heat source would be better at this point I think, lack of moisture won't kill the chick but could make it difficult for it to hatch, you can always assist with the hatch if that is the case, lack of heat will kill the chick which is what will happen if the hen kicks it from the nest over night. I would try to get it hatched myself then put the chick under the hen the next night.

If you put the antibiotic cream on the membrane around the pip and lay the egg in a wet paper towel and take care to keep it damp it will likely hatch fine if you keep it warm under a light or similar

 

[ClareScifi]

Really? I wonder if I can talk hubby into taking me to the store. He's gone to bed, and we don't have any Neosporin. The car dies, and I don't want to be away from the egg too long. I know he'll be mad, but it's worth a try. Maybe I can warm up the car and go myself alone.

I have him in a box with a 125 watt heat lamp. The thermometer is all over the place-- from 90 to 105, but he is still alive and pecking....

I have him wrapped in a wet paper towel. I have a dish of water in the box with him for extra humidity.

Someone just now suggested I put him in a plastic or a glass bowl, and I got out the top to my steamer/rice cooker. It is oval and plastic with holes in the bottom, and I put him in there, with wet paper towels atop the holes on the bottom of the cooker, in addition to wrapped around the egg.

I wondered whether I should put water in the bottom of the steamer, and set the plastic basket he is now in atop the water-filled base of the steamer, but I thought it might move the egg too close to the heat lamp and make the egg too hot?

What do you think about putting the egg atop a base of water. I could put in hot or warm water and it would gradually cool over night.

 

[chicken17]

how long has the egg ben pipped ? you could try to put the egg under the hen and if she kicks it back out then I would help it.. I helped my 2 after hey were pipped for 18 hours one of the eggs took me 10 hours and the other around 6 the main thing to assisting the chick hatch is going slow and keeping the membrane moist with warm water and pick most of the shell away then start pealing the membrane away if you hit a vein get a paper towel with warm water and hold it on the vein for a few seconds. peal the membrane SLOW.peal from the head of the chick to about half way down the egg if you see yolk then let the egg sit for about 2 hours and check again if the yolk is almost all the way absorbed then its up to the chick to get out.

hope this helps you good luck

 

[ClareScifi]

Does Neighborhood Walmart sell the unmedicated Neosporin? I could call and ask them to have it ready for me at the counter, if so?

 

[blucoondawg]

It isn't unmedicated, all Neosporin and off brand is a antibiotic ointment which is medicated with antibiotic, what you want is an antibiotic cream that doesn't have an added pain reliever, the pain reliever is bad for chickens, you should keep some of this on hand anyways for treating wounds in the birds should they be attacked or pick at each other. Any store with a medication aisle will have it, just ask for a triple antibiotic ointment WITHOUT pain reliever. The stuff without pain reliever is the more common kind anyways, should be easy to find.

 

[ClareScifi]

Hubby thinks Neosporin would be toxic to a chick? He says it's an antibiotic? Has anyone used it successfully in hatching chickens before? He thinks if I just spritz the egg with water every so often that would work just as well. He is soooo stubborn.

 

[ClareScifi]

Does the Neosporin grease the membrane, making it easier for the chick to peck through, or does it have a different purpose?

 

[blucoondawg]

Just make sure the egg stays warm and if you have water containers don't have it so when the chick hatches it will fall in and drown. Keeping it on damp toweling with some spritzing of water on the egg and towel to keep it wet is probably good enough, it doesn't matter what you keep it in a cardboard box is just as well as a plastic container. Also don't completely wrap the wet papertowel around the egg, leave it open around the pip area and open enough that it isn't going to prevent the chick from hatching at all

 

[blucoondawg]

The Neosporin keeps the memebrane from drying out where it is exposed to air. Many people have used it, it is not toxic to chicks. You could also swab the membrane with water to keep it moist but you would need to do it constantly, the ointment will stay on there and sort of seal it off from the air keeping it moist

You are not lathering it all over the chick anyways you are using a small amount on the egg membrane

 

[ClareScifi]

Thank you so much, BlueCoonDawg. I guess I will be up all night, as the paper towels will dry out fast. I appreciate your help very, very much!