Intervention: Helping Your Chicks Hatch

[RooRidgeFarm]

I have a baby that i didnt know was still alive. he has been in the bator for 24 or 25 days. I tried helping him but i dont think he is ready. There is blood around his beak so i stopped. I have no idea when he even started breaking through his shell. He is peeping a little but the only movement i can see is his breathing. I dont know if he is even ready to come out yet. Tips?

Hi,
Ok, so blood around the beak could mean several things. Did he pip and the blood came from his pip? Or did it occur when you started to help? And how much blood is it?

Blood can appear when a chick accidentley pips into a blood vessel and that can be a tricky thing to help with. You have a fine balance between getting a struggling chick out and not causing them to bleed to death. If there is a lot of blood,carefully take a q-tip and absorb it GENTLY from around the face and nostrils. If the chick has a clear nasal passage, then you don't have to worry about removing the blood so much.

Be careful in handling the membrane and shell. If you do not carefully PINCH the shell off using the dull tweezers, you can end up pulling on the membrane underneath and causing the blood vessels to bleed.

Listen to the chick and watch his movements. Try and give it more time to allow the blood vessels to dry up a little bit more, BUT listen and watch. If the chicks movements get weaker and the cheeping less and quieter, you may just have to go ahead and help that chick out fairly quickly. From what it sounds, this is going to be a difficult case, and be prepared for it to end with an undesired result. Your chick definitely is on the late side of incubation, and I would suggest that the temps were off. Hatching issues, and different types of development problems happen at lower temps. The chick may be large and mushy almost, and he will not be able to turn and zip out himself due to physical development problems. This is where helping hatch will be tricky. If you feel the chick is going to die in the shell, you can do a quicker removal. You will need blood stop powder or even flour to help stop any bleeding.
What my son does in tricky cases is, after he removes almost all shell and moistens the membrane, he will start at the pip site of the membrane and gently stretch and ROLL the membrane down (like rolling socks off your feet). Once you get the head and shoulders out-STOP. Don't roll the membrane down any more as it will take a little time for the bottom of the vessels to cauterize and for the umbilical to start to separate from the membrane. So what happens when you do the quick method is this: The quick rolling of the membrane almost acts like a constrictor-you are rolling the membrane down the chicks body and as it rolls, the blood flow is being restricted. You will have some bleeding, but it 'should' not be too bad. Keep the flour handy and use it anywhere there is bleeding, but not the eyes or nostrils or mouth. Wait and keep the membrane moist. After a few hours the umbilical will be getting closer to drying up and you can carefully roll the membrane down a little more.

I hope this helps. Sorry it was long winded, but helping chicks is not always simple.

Let us know how things go

 

[chicklover21299]

I think i will wait a little longer and then try to help him. He is peeping a little, but not frequently. Like i said, the only movement is his breathing. Thankyou for all the detail, i need it! - Kaylee

 

[chicklover21299]

Exactly how much blood is too much? when i peel off the membrane, there are veins or arteries that give out blood and there is quite a bit.

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

Exactly how much blood is too much? when i peel off the membrane, there are veins or arteries that give out blood and there is quite a bit.

Hi, I sent you a message. Heavy bleeding is not a good sign. The choice is: slow helping and possible bleeding throughout, OR the quicker roll down method I mentioned above, which should help squeeze the blood vessels off so less bleeding.
Either way, the choices are tough and your chance of success with a heavy bleeder is much lower.

I sincerely hope it turns out well

 

[bre113]

Awesome post. I had to help two chicks for the first time today, including removing membranes. The membranes had dried out, the chicks had zipped the shell but only a few small places in the membrane, so I had to break the membrane across where the chicks had zipped. One did great, the other is still weak and I'm still not quite sure if it will make it. We will see! Seems to be improving!

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

Awesome post. I had to help two chicks for the first time today, including removing membranes. The membranes had dried out, the chicks had zipped the shell but only a few small places in the membrane, so I had to break the membrane across where the chicks had zipped. One did great, the other is still weak and I'm still not quite sure if it will make it. We will see! Seems to be improving!

Great job! You will definitely know in the morning if the weaker chick is thriving. You did good!

 

[chookenqueen1]

keep the membrane moist and chip away the shell in a circle at the big end of the egg. If the membrane dries out it will act like shrink wrap and suffocate the baby. As long as it is cheeping it should be ok... if it stops then I'd just do the deed and open the membrane... no blood i"d get it out and put it under heat and hope for the best. hope this helps...

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

If you get a chance chicklover, let us know how things went if you want to.
Hope it was a good outcome

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

I have had two bright blue eggs that pipped, but didn't zip. The first one I assisted. There was virtually no blood. It went really well. This is my first incubation ever, so I'm really a virgin at this all.

The shell was soooo thick compared to the lighter blue one that pipped and zipped and hatch within about 2 hours. I'm glad I helped because it was not doing the zipping itself. I have a second bright blue egg that was in the same situation. I've peeled back the egg shell around the pip to about halfway down. There was a spot with blood that came through the membrane. It just pooled; it wasn't free flowing. I put it back in the incubator, in the egg flat with some moist face-cleaned towellettes around it and under it. I'm giving it some time to absorb the capillaries before I try to help again. This eggshell was really thick, too.

I have a bantam blue wheaten that just started peeping, but no pip. Does that mean it's internally pipped? I hope it manages. I also have a Silkie egg that I candled because something was smelling in the incubator. It looked fully formed, but no movement. I pipped the aircell end and there was no movement whatsoever. I put it back and am going to give it some time. I had an olive egger yesterday that had air sacs at both end and was really light. That one had mold in it and seemed to have died a while ago.

I just replaced the cover and am going to go back to my reading for grad school. Appropriately, I'm reading Frankenstein. I may just call myself the Modern Chicken Prometheus.

The chick I helped (supposed to be a crested creame legbar):



He/she is doing well:


The other (splash Amerecauna) who pipped, zipped, and hatched on his own:

 

[RooRidgeFarm]

I have had two bright blue eggs that pipped, but didn't zip. The first one I assisted. There was virtually no blood. It went really well. This is my first incubation ever, so I'm really a virgin at this all.

The shell was soooo thick compared to the lighter blue one that pipped and zipped and hatch within about 2 hours. I'm glad I helped because it was not doing the zipping itself. I have a second bright blue egg that was in the same situation. I've peeled back the egg shell around the pip to about halfway down. There was a spot with blood that came through the membrane. It just pooled; it wasn't free flowing. I put it back in the incubator, in the egg flat with some moist face-cleaned towellettes around it and under it. I'm giving it some time to absorb the capillaries before I try to help again. This eggshell was really thick, too.

I have a bantam blue wheaten that just started peeping, but no pip. Does that mean it's internally pipped? I hope it manages. I also have a Silkie egg that I candled because something was smelling in the incubator. It looked fully formed, but no movement. I pipped the aircell end and there was no movement whatsoever. I put it back and am going to give it some time. I had an olive egger yesterday that had air sacs at both end and was really light. That one had mold in it and seemed to have died a while ago.

I just replaced the cover and am going to go back to my reading for grad school. Appropriately, I'm reading Frankenstein. I may just call myself the Modern Chicken Prometheus.

The chick I helped (supposed to be a crested creame legbar):



He/she is doing well:


Hi,
The chick that you hear peeping has definitely internally pipped. If they make noise, then they are drawing air. You will need to keep an eye on that one if it does not pip externally in the next several hours. What could happen if it does not pip externally, is that the carbon dioxide exchange is happening and they can run out of oxygen in their shell. Some chicks are in the wrong position to pip, are very large chicks and can't wiggle, or some shells are just incredibly hard.

If you don't get an external pip shortly, you can pip it yourself. Just in case you need instructions:
Candle the egg.
Mark the air cell with pencil-make an X on the area of the beak if you see it-so you can avoid it.
Take a dull instrument (I use the heavy handle end of a butter knife) and firmly tap until you get a crack.
Then slightly pinch off shell pieces.
You should see the beak and some breathing and movement. If the membrane is completely covering the beak, you will need to make an opening for the beak yourself. I use sharp tweezers to make a small hole.
Then wait a little bit and then follow instructions for zipping.
Keep in mind there will probably be more bleeding with a chick that you pip. They have not had a chance at all to start closing off their veins. So take your time once you have that the shell opening.

Hope all goes well. Sounds like you did a good job already!