I'm trying to help my chick hatch..how to I get the membrane off? If I get the shell off might the chick get its self out of the membrane?
helping a chick hatch
- Thread starter shardean
- Start date
- Oct 21, 2009
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- 124
Hi!
I've read to be vvverry careful to not help a chick until it really needs it. They take several hours to hatch, and that gives it strengthening to live in the world. If it does not get this, it could have more trouble surviving.
Provided you already know all this and need to help this little guy ...
This is from another post:
First - you need to give the chick 24 hours between pip and helping. I know it is a stressful time, and you are excited, but the little one is working hard inside that shell to prepare itself for birth, so let nature take its course. If nothing seems to be happening after that amount of time, i pick a bit of shell away from the pip, CAREFULLY, just chipping tiny pieces off. In my exp if the membrane is dried out and the chick is ready, then there are no fragile blood veins to contend with, sometimes there is even an air gap between the membrane and shell. At ANY sign of blood, or a wet vein in the membrane, immediately stop and wait for those veins to dry out! On the dried membrane eggs i seem to be able to chip shell off with no problem, and i go about a quarter of an inch (not opening the membrane, JUST removing the shell). You can easily see at that point if the membrane is indeed the problem. I then use a small BLUNT pointy object (i use a small Star awars toy gun - lol) to rip open minuscule bits of the membrane. At that point you will see the chick inside opening and closing its beak, and often it will chirp at you. After opening a quarter inch i know it is getting air, so i leave it a half hour and see what it can do on its own. If no progression then i chip off more shell and do the same with the membrane. Remember if there is ANY blood then stop - the membrane is NOT ready to be opened. i follow this method until the egg has been unzipped with my help almost half way around. Then I leave the chick to do the rest itself, which can often times be a couple hours. Do not rush the chick - even though you are excited. The baby needs time to dry out inside the shell so it does not pull its insides out when it detaches from the bottom of the shell. I have found the chick will pop off the top of the shell and rest a while before separating from the bottom of the shell in circumstances where it has been helped. I have been lucky, and every chick i have helped has survived with out problems...
Hope that is helpful. Another resource that was very helpful for me was this site:
www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/HelpingChicksHatch.html
Do not do anything until 24 hours after the chick pips (breaks a hole through the egg shell). Before that you can poke a hole to make sure the membrane and egg both have a hole so the chick can breathe. Trying to help sooner than 24 hours results in too many failures with dead and misshapen birds.
After 24 hours you can help if you want. Some will die but you can save some.
The first thing to remember when helping is to watch for blood. If bleeding starts (not just the small blood in the membrane), STOP right then and there. Put the egg back and wait a few hours before again trying to help.
Once you start helping a chick, it often won't be able to finish by itself. That is because when exposed to air the membrane dries out and gets tough. The air also signals the membrane's blood vessels to shut down and that is good.
The easy ones to help are the eggs where the chick has cracked all around the egg. Sometimes at this point the membrane dries out and gets too tough for the final exit. Just gently split these eggs open.
The hard cases are the ones with just a pip. Start at the blunt end of the egg and fold the membrane down over the chick. In the ideal case you end up with the membrane rolled back to the chick's butt. At this point you can put the chick back in the incubator/hatcher if the egg sack is still not absorbed or if the chick is very weak.
Be careful when putting a chick back. At this stage some can be very sticky and will glue itself to the wire bottom in the incubator. If the chick feels sticky, put it on a piece of wax paper.
I pray it goes well!!
I've read to be vvverry careful to not help a chick until it really needs it. They take several hours to hatch, and that gives it strengthening to live in the world. If it does not get this, it could have more trouble surviving.
Provided you already know all this and need to help this little guy ...
This is from another post:
First - you need to give the chick 24 hours between pip and helping. I know it is a stressful time, and you are excited, but the little one is working hard inside that shell to prepare itself for birth, so let nature take its course. If nothing seems to be happening after that amount of time, i pick a bit of shell away from the pip, CAREFULLY, just chipping tiny pieces off. In my exp if the membrane is dried out and the chick is ready, then there are no fragile blood veins to contend with, sometimes there is even an air gap between the membrane and shell. At ANY sign of blood, or a wet vein in the membrane, immediately stop and wait for those veins to dry out! On the dried membrane eggs i seem to be able to chip shell off with no problem, and i go about a quarter of an inch (not opening the membrane, JUST removing the shell). You can easily see at that point if the membrane is indeed the problem. I then use a small BLUNT pointy object (i use a small Star awars toy gun - lol) to rip open minuscule bits of the membrane. At that point you will see the chick inside opening and closing its beak, and often it will chirp at you. After opening a quarter inch i know it is getting air, so i leave it a half hour and see what it can do on its own. If no progression then i chip off more shell and do the same with the membrane. Remember if there is ANY blood then stop - the membrane is NOT ready to be opened. i follow this method until the egg has been unzipped with my help almost half way around. Then I leave the chick to do the rest itself, which can often times be a couple hours. Do not rush the chick - even though you are excited. The baby needs time to dry out inside the shell so it does not pull its insides out when it detaches from the bottom of the shell. I have found the chick will pop off the top of the shell and rest a while before separating from the bottom of the shell in circumstances where it has been helped. I have been lucky, and every chick i have helped has survived with out problems...
Hope that is helpful. Another resource that was very helpful for me was this site:
www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/HelpingChicksHatch.html
Do not do anything until 24 hours after the chick pips (breaks a hole through the egg shell). Before that you can poke a hole to make sure the membrane and egg both have a hole so the chick can breathe. Trying to help sooner than 24 hours results in too many failures with dead and misshapen birds.
After 24 hours you can help if you want. Some will die but you can save some.
The first thing to remember when helping is to watch for blood. If bleeding starts (not just the small blood in the membrane), STOP right then and there. Put the egg back and wait a few hours before again trying to help.
Once you start helping a chick, it often won't be able to finish by itself. That is because when exposed to air the membrane dries out and gets tough. The air also signals the membrane's blood vessels to shut down and that is good.
The easy ones to help are the eggs where the chick has cracked all around the egg. Sometimes at this point the membrane dries out and gets too tough for the final exit. Just gently split these eggs open.
The hard cases are the ones with just a pip. Start at the blunt end of the egg and fold the membrane down over the chick. In the ideal case you end up with the membrane rolled back to the chick's butt. At this point you can put the chick back in the incubator/hatcher if the egg sack is still not absorbed or if the chick is very weak.
Be careful when putting a chick back. At this stage some can be very sticky and will glue itself to the wire bottom in the incubator. If the chick feels sticky, put it on a piece of wax paper.
I pray it goes well!!
- Thread starter
- #3
thank you...the chick is out, very tired but seems to be OK...really big! I think it was to big for the egg and couldn't turn to chip its way out!
- Oct 21, 2009
- 109
- 0
- 124
Great!!
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