Adventures in Incubating Shipped Eggs

[Cerise1924]

Oh, gosh. Now what? The Legbar cross and another little Sebright both hatched in the cooler incubator in the last two hours.

At that point, since it's Day 22, I decided to check on the three Svart Hona eggs in that incubator, and I saw that two have wrong-end pips, just like that stuck Svart! I have no idea how long it's been. It could have been days, now.

What should I do? I may be too late. Should I try to help? Leave them?
Update: I had to do something. One, sadly, had perished perfectly formed. I'm sure it just couldn't breathe. The other was making no sound and not moving, but I was able to free the beak and get it some breathing room, and then I got movement and one loud cheep! Put it back in the incubator.

This has been a tougher hatch than usual. This last Sebright also looks like it's got debris on its belly. I'm just going to give it time.

 

[Morrigan]

My pipped orpington egg hatched!!!!!



I think it was just waiting for some privacy from that annoying women who kept shining lights on it and tapping. I've been out this afternoon, driving to the SF Bay Area. I have family here and there is a feed store that has 3 day old buff orpington chicks. I was going to pick up 3 of them, but now I only have to pick up 2. Woot! That will give me 7 chicks total.

My husband called to tell me the news. I asked what it looked like ("Wet"). I asked if he could send me a picture ("Really, you'll be back tomorrow"). But, he said he would as soon as he finished his other chores.

 

[Morrigan]

Oh, gosh. Now what? The Legbar cross and another little Sebright both hatched in the cooler incubator in the last two hours.

At that point, since it's Day 22, I decided to check on the three Svart Hona eggs in that incubator, and I saw that two have wrong-end pips, just like that stuck Svart! I have no idea how long it's been. It could have been days, now.

What should I do? I may be too late. Should I try to help? Leave them?
Update: I had to do something. One, sadly, had perished perfectly formed. I'm sure it just couldn't breathe. The other was making no sound and not moving, but I was able to free the beak and get it some breathing room, and then I got movement and one loud cheep! Put it back in the incubator.

This has been a tougher hatch than usual. This last Sebright also looks like it's got debris on its belly. I'm just going to give it time.

Glad you are getting so many chicks, but sorry to hear about the svarts. They may still be OK, since the cooler incubator is hatching late, and if they've made an external pip, they should be getting air. Here is a link to an article I read that basically said wrong-place external pips can take longer, but usually hatch without needing assistance. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

I hope they pull through for you.

 

[Kiki]

My pipped orpington egg hatched!!!!!



I think it was just waiting for some privacy from that annoying women who kept shining lights on it and tapping. I've been out this afternoon, driving to the SF Bay Area. I have family here and there is a feed store that has 3 day old buff orpington chicks. I was going to pick up 3 of them, but now I only have to pick up 2. Woot! That will give me 7 chicks total.

My husband called to tell me the news. I asked what it looked like ("Wet"). I asked if he could send me a picture ("Really, you'll be back tomorrow"). But, he said he would as soon as he finished his other chores.

 

[Kiki]

Short story: My 4th Maran is out! I ended up making my first assisted hatch.

For those interested in the long version: The egg got rolled into a position where I could finally see what was going on. I could tell that it really wasn't turning and zipping. It had made one big, wide, hole with its beak, and all further progress was because it was splitting the egg open by sheer pushing. Because of the huge air sac saddle running along the side of the shell, I think it was simply too big to turn in the remaining space. The membrane was turning brown, the feathers sticking through the gap were dry, and it had been pushing away for over an hour with no further progress.

It didn't do anything fancy. I took out the egg and put it on a warm towel. At first I chipped carefully away with tweezers, but it was soon very clear there were no blood vessels. So I just pulled the egg slightly further apart at the split line the chick had already made, and put it back it. The chick immediately pushed it completely open and crawled out loudly complaining that it had enough of that shell! It's bumbling about the incubator with the rest of them now.

I guess it's possible it could have pushed itself out eventually, but hearing @WVduckchick stories about partial-zip deaths, I'm very glad I helped.

Thank you so much for all the helpful advice and encouragement!

This is greeaaaatttt!
Congrats!

 

[Kiki]

This is greeaaaatttt!
Congrats!

Tell DH to send us pics too!

 

[Kiki]

@Morrigan ^^that

 

[Morrigan]

Tell DH to send us pics too!

I'm still waiting for him to send me a picture.

I thought he understood the depths of my obsession. I need to re-educate him.

 

[Kiki]

I'm still waiting for him to send me a picture.

I thought he understood the depths of my obsession. I need to re-educate him.

TEXT him again!

 

[Cerise1924]

Glad you are getting so many chicks, but sorry to hear about the svarts. They may still be OK, since the cooler incubator is hatching late, and if they've made an external pip, they should be getting air. Here is a link to an article I read that basically said wrong-place external pips can take longer, but usually hatch without needing assistance. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

I hope they pull through for you.

Thank you so much. I hadn't seen that article. I like the coconut oil idea. I always have some in the house.