Question about oddly pipped chick*update w/pic page2*

Got a bantam hatching atm, and the silly little thing pipped off a bunch of shell with only a tiny hole in the membrane! It's beak is out and it's breathing fine, and it seems quite tired, but the membrane seems to be kind of drying up around the hole in the membrane, because so much shell came off already. I don't even know if hatching these eggs is a good idea - the shells are REALLY thick. When collecting eggs, I've dropped the same egg TWICE on the stone ground without it breaking. They've had a brutally terrible hatch rate.

But, I do have one hatching and want to know - I've q-tipped some moisture onto the membrane twice now, away from the beak so I don't accidentally drown it. My humidity is up around 80%, because I added some extra sponges to help with the drying membrane but the membrane just seems abnormally tough for the chick. Should I cease q-tipping the membrane? (fresh q-tip every time, not losing any humidity in the bator, clean warm water). Has anyone ever had a chick that needed no help with the shell but couldn't manage the membrane? The membrane is the scariest thing to touch and I don't want to interfere if I don't have to, but the moisture I've been adding seems to be helping the chick get more of it's beak out.

As long as the humidity is high enough the chick will free itself from the membrane, my eggs hatched today and the same thing happened but I did nothing and they are out now, I did worry a little though but left them to it, they had a rest for a few hours then broke free, they tend to stretch and rip the membrane by pushing the sides of the egg out after first chipping and cracking the shell which then makes this easier for them to do.

Okay, it got it's head out of the membrane, but it was twisted backwards and the chick was gasping, while it's been breathing fine through the pip until it's head came out. I've never had one with a backwards head like that before, it seemed too tired to correct it so I turned it's head and laid it gently down on the cloth, careful that it wasn't pressing against the shell. It's sleeping now - will it be weak from the odd head angle? It was only gasping for a minute, cuz I was right there when it got it's head out.

I've only ever had two kinds of hatches before - those that went off without a problem and those that didn't even hatch. So this trouble is new to me!

*sigh* this little guy is still just laying there, breathing but not making any noise, blinks occasionally but mostly sleeps. Might be a sad morning tomorrow, it looks like... fingers crossed that Nemo makes it out tomorrow!

Good luck. Hope the little guy makes it.

Good luck with it! Maybe he is just especially tired from the thick membrane.

Can't you gently help it come out? I'm still new to all this so I am not sure. Good luck. Hope the little one makes it.

@ Colette: The short answer is that you can. The long answer is that this should always be a last resort, because there's a high chance of doing damage to the chick in helping it. Possible damage includes (but is not limited to): causing the chick to bleed by nicking a vein, pulling out a chick that isn't ready/hasn't absorbed the yolk, pulling out a chick that is too weak to survive (which can cause you some emotional strife when it dies later, or can cause other issues if it does survive, not the least of which are musculatory or respiratory problems from not doing the work to hatch), and causing shrink wrapping in any other chicks who have pipped the shell in the incubator when you reach in to help. So you CAN but you don't WANT to if you don't have to.

My experience with the chicks that cant come out by themselves by about 18 hrs is I help them out. If the membrane dry out, it hardens up to the point that the chicks wont be able to break through. I know that lots of people dont believe in helping, but I cant sit there seeing a chick dies. I find it best to break away the shell quickly with your fingers (much easier and quicker than tweezer), then cautiously peel back the membrane, starting from the big end. After getting the chick out, I put it in the small plastic bowl lining with paper towel, and put back in the incubator. I do this b/c the chick is usually quite weak and possibly has bloody umbilicus, dont want other chicks to peck on it. It usually takes me about 3-5 minutes for the whole procedure. Goodluck.

Andy

Update, this morning the chick is all the way out and completely exhausted! It's kicking it's legs and breathing fine, so still leaving it alone.