Advice needed, please be honest!

[sunnyllama]

I have a hatch occurring now and I have my first batch of shipped eggs. have heard the horrors of shipped eggs and havent even tried until now and of course, I am so invested in these things. Bad move to get emotionally involved, I know

. Anyway, I started with 13 of these things and at lockdown was down to 2. The rest of my eggs have been steadily and successfully hatching for the past two days and this one little shipped egg had pipped yesterday night sometime. It hasnt gotten much further than that except it has made its hole a bit bigger, but certainly not a zip in any way. It is still alive, it just keeps sticking its beak through the same hole.

Now here is where I need to advice. I know there are several different schools of thought on helping and I know mostly it isnt the best idea. On the other hand, some people have been successful with it. I am tempted to help because I really want one of these to pan out. (the other one hasnt done a thing) Should I help? If so, what do I do?

Thanks

 

[nivtup]

To start,

Our experience is that some breeds take longer than others to hatch, sometimes by as much a 2 days.

I have helped many chicks out, mostly on shipped eggs, as we were attempting to get a start in a new breed or variety.

My approach has been to give them 24 hours to zip, if not, then I intervene.

Generally what I find is the chick is stuck, and would not make it on its own.

Start small, and slow, be very careful to watch for blodd vessels that have not "dried up", the chick willl rapidly bleed to death if you get into the blood vessels.

Slow and easy, and generally, you can save most of them.


Good luck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

By yesterday night, I guess you mean Friday night, so it has been more than 24 hours?

I have trouble knowing when to help. I won't get into whether you should or not. That is your business as far as I am concerned.

If it has been more than 24 hours, I'd probably help. There are different techniques, but the main thing is to keep the membrane wet when you start and try to keep the chick warm. I think most people use Q-tips dipped in water or something like that. I dunk the egg in a cup of warm water, but be very careful to keep the chick's beak out of the water. You don't want to drown it.

Slowly and carefully break off the shell. It might leave a membrane behind. Don't worry about that membrane yet, but if the membrane comes off with the shell, then keep going. If you see blood, stop, moisten the membrane well, and put it back. Part of the hatching process is that the blood vessels outside its body need to dry up and it needs to absorb that blood before it is ready to hatch.

If you get the shell off and the chick is wrapped in membrane, gently take that membrane off, keeping it wet. This is when I dunk it a few times. I just tear the membrane with my fingernails. Very carefully though. At some point the chick will be out, even if all the membrane is not gone.

When the chick is out, I dunk it a few times in the cup of warm water to sort of rinse off what I can of the gunk and and pick the big chunks of membrane or shell off. Remember, don't drown it and make sure the water is warm. But I don't obsess about getting it perfectly clean. Once I think it is cleaned off enough that it can move, I put it back in the incubator.

When it dries, the down will be glued down in places. There may even be some chunks of membrane left. I don't worry about that as long as the chick can move OK. It will wear off within a week. Some people worry about the down being glued down and really give it a good washing. That seems to work for them. As I said, different techniques.

Good luck!!!

 

[sunnyllama]

Thank you! The egg in question is a polish. How do I do it, though? Would I take it out of the incubator and just start picking away little bits? Also, what do I do about the veins?

 

[sunnyllama]

Awesome, that helps! Thank you so much!

 

[sunnyllama]

I think it is shrink wrapped? I peeled away a bit of the shell and it is stuck in its membrane. I put it back in and the top of the shell is completely off....what am I supposed to do???

 

[Ridgerunner]

Keep the membrane wet and the chick warm, and gently peel the membrane off. If you see blood, stop.

 

[sunnyllama]

Okay, I did see blood, so I stopped and put it back in the incubator. Should I continue to put a little drop of warm water in there? It is still chirping and moving...

 

[sunnyllama]

Now I need more advice, I just dont know what to do. I tried to peel off as much membrane as I could, put the chick back in and it has been a few hours. He is alive, breathing, chirping, trying to get out but he just cant. Doesnt appear to be suffering in any way...I dont know what to do??

 

[rarely bored]

I'm the impatient type... once I've started to help, I'll chip away a few pieces, wait 15 min or half an hour and chip/pull some more. Unless the veins in the membrane are still flowing well. If so, I'll back away for a longer period of time because the chick needs a little more time to be hatched.