25 hours no zip, seems to try

[Lieurance4]

Currently 25 hours in, egg rocking at times, haven’t heard a recent chirp but did this afternoon. Initial pip was at the mark on the right (whiter side with a small slit) last night at 8:15ish. Top left was 9 this morning, and then a small piece fell off around 1 and we saw some blood tinged fluid there. Then about 1 hour ago a small crack appeared at top of left hole. Knowing it is trying to zip. We don’t know where the air cell was b/c when we candled the green eggs we could not see in them. Also know the membrane is thick as we can usually not crack these eggs well when we eat them. How long do we wait to assist? Til morning? I’m also extremely nervous to assist. Humidity has remained 72-75.

 

[JaeG]

I would assist because that isn't normal. The unzipping should be punctures very close to each other, creating a larger crack as the chick rotates. The chick may have started to turn and got stuck for some reason.

This is an excellent article. Read it through and even though you cannot see the air cell, if you stick to removing the shell at the fat end you should be fine.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

The most important thing is to take off as much shell as you need to see whether there is still blood in the veins of the membrane. Putting oil on it (coconut is best but any cooking oil will do in a pinch) will change the membrane from white to clear so you'll be able to see what is going on. If there is still blood in the veins the chick is not ready to hatch yet. If you can see the beak that will also give you an indication - if it is still doing the yawning and chewing it is still absorbing the remains of the yolk so again, it won't be ready to hatch.

 

[Lieurance4]

I would assist because that isn't normal. The unzipping should be punctures very close to each other, creating a larger crack as the chick rotates. The chick may have started to turn and got stuck for some reason.

This is an excellent article. Read it through and even though you cannot see the air cell, if you stick to removing the shell at the fat end you should be fine.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

The most important thing is to take off as much shell as you need to see whether there is still blood in the veins of the membrane. Putting oil on it (coconut is best but any cooking oil will do in a pinch) will change the membrane from white to clear so you'll be able to see what is going on. If there is still blood in the veins the chick is not ready to hatch yet. If you can see the beak that will also give you an indication - if it is still doing the yawning and chewing it is still absorbing the remains of the yolk so again, it won't be ready to hatch.

Thank you, I read it earlier today and was reading it again as you responded. I’m looking at malpositions and it seems like it is moving left which appears to be a malposition. It has a crack so I’ll try to start to remove the shell in that area and apply the oil to see if the veins have blood. Thanks so much, I appreciate it.

 

[Lieurance4]

Ok, I was able to remove the top of the shell and put coconut oil on it. All clear, no red vessels at all. I was able to slightly peel back the small opening near the beak so it is now visible. It does appear to be chewing occasionally. I placed it back in the incubator, humidity is at 70 percent but will let it go a little higher. Crossing my fingers!

 

[Crestcrazy]

Oh good luck , almost the same thing happened to me just earlier today and I assist hatched and that probably saved its life but be extremely careful , also I'm not saying you should assist but if you have to then go for it .

 

[Crestcrazy]

P.S.
Mine was shrink-wrapped

 

[Lieurance4]

I actually placed it in the cup as the article states...not sure how long but hopefully it will be able to tell us when it is ready to come out.

 

[Lieurance4]

P.S.
Mine was shrink-wrapped

I was reading your story which was the reason I was trying to decide what to do!

 

[JaeG]

It should get noisy when it is ready to get out of that egg. Unless it is too tired, but as long as it can breathe it will be fine - just keep an eye on the membrane as you may need to reapply some oil.

 

[Lieurance4]

It should get noisy when it is ready to get out of that egg. Unless it is too tired, but as long as it can breathe it will be fine - just keep an eye on the membrane as you may need to reapply some oil.

Thank you! So, now that I know what the inside of this egg looks like (where air sac was), the first pip must have been an external zip initially as it was not near the air sac. Chick was not in correct position initially but was trying to get there. So I read in the article shared above that when this happens, it takes longer for the yolk to absorb, even up to 30-40 hours so that is why it is still absorbing yolk. Had I known that I would have waited longer but I couldn’t wrap my head where the air sac was and didn’t realize it would take that long. Eek, well, crossing my fingers we end up with a good result. Thanks everyone!