Assist chick?

[Weetamoo93]

I had a hen set on 8.14 and slowly abandoned the nest. I have a brooder plate and moved the eggs under it turning them about 3 times a day.

Thinking they were all deceased, I started to open this guy from the air cell. It's moving inside. Should I assist it further? Or let it be?

Do I need to seal this hole somehow?

Thank you all.

Edited to add: I found a BYC article on assisting (cannot remember how to link) and did the coconut oil test. The veins are still not absorbed, so I put it loosely in a damp towel back under the brooder plate.

 

[Jener8or]

How is it doing? I've never come across this before. Do you still see movement? It seems rather late to hatch, but that makes sense with all it's been through.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hopefully it's not too late, but I definitely would have left it alone for about 12 hours or so to see if it could make it out on its own. I'm thinking the article you followed is this one, and it's excellent! https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[WoDia]

I had a hen set on 8.14 and slowly abandoned the nest. I have a brooder plate and moved the eggs under it turning them about 3 times a day.

Thinking they were all deceased, I started to open this guy from the air cell. It's moving inside. Should I assist it further? Or let it be?

Do I need to seal this hole somehow?

Thank you all.

Edited to add: I found a BYC article on assisting (cannot remember how to link) and did the coconut oil test. The veins are still not absorbed, so I put it loosely in a damp towel back under the brooder plate.

You should really get an incubator. Have it up and running. If you can accurately determine the number of incubation days, set the humidity accordingly. It’s always a good idea to have an incubator on standby for situations like this. When I let my broodies sit, I always have an incubator running, if I have to transfer eggs for whatever reason. I hope this little one, and any others, can make it to hatch. Good wishes.

 

[Weetamoo93]

@Debbie292d , I'm still newer to incubating; I really prefer my hens doing it all for me. I wish I'd made my hole a little smaller, but I thought I was doing an egg-topsy (brain is not braining due to new baby). It's sitting in a dish with a damp towel for extra humidity under the brooder; I went no further than opening the shell, thankfully. The coconut oil trick worked really well to see all the veins which look a little drier today (hopefully a good thing).

@Jener8or , I haven't been able to get a good look yet this morning to gauge any movement. Even the movement yesterday was only just enough for me to realize it was still alive.

The eggs were all about 1 week along when Mom (a pullet from February) stopped setting. I made sure she was on them at night, but I monitored her for a few days before I realized she had abandoned them. I think between that and all them being smaller pullet eggs (all that available at the time of her setting) the odds have sadly been against them from the start.

 

[Weetamoo93]

You should really get an incubator. Have it up and running. If you can accurately determine the number of incubation days, set the humidity accordingly. It’s always a good idea to have an incubator in standby for situations like this. When I let my broodies sit, I always have an incubator running if I have to transfer eggs for whatever reason. I hope this little one, and any others, can make it to hatch. Good wishes.

That's in my plans to get a small incubator for scenarios like those. I'm surprised I got it this far with just the brooder plate, to be honest.

Any recommendations on something smaller? Like up to dozen max?

 

[Debbie292d]

@Debbie292d , I'm still newer to incubating; I really prefer my hens doing it all for me. I wish I'd made my hole a little smaller, but I thought I was doing an egg-topsy (brain is not braining due to new baby). It's sitting in a dish with a damp towel for extra humidity under the brooder; I went no further than opening the shell, thankfully. The coconut oil trick worked really well to see all the veins which look a little drier today (hopefully a good thing).

@Jener8or , I haven't been able to get a good look yet this morning to gauge any movement. Even the movement yesterday was only just enough for me to realize it was still alive.

The eggs were all about 1 week along when Mom (a pullet from February) stopped setting. I made sure she was on them at night, but I monitored her for a few days before I realized she had abandoned them. I think between that and all them being smaller pullet eggs (all that available at the time of her setting) the odds have sadly been against them from the start.

Ooh, only one week along? Yes, that's not going to be good as they need to be at 99.5F with around 40-50% humidity. Putting them under a heating plate might work if she ditched them their last day or two, but I highly doubt it's going to work for eggs that need another 14 days of incubation.

 

[Debbie292d]

That's in my plans to get a small incubator for scenarios like those. I'm surprised I got it this far with just the brooder plate, to be honest.

Any recommendations on something smaller? Like up to dozen max?

I would check out the Kebonnixs 12 Egg Incubator. It's a good brand and is similar to the NR360 in how it works.

 

[WoDia]

That's in my plans to get a small incubator for scenarios like those. I'm surprised I got it this far with just the brooder plate, to be honest.

Any recommendations on something smaller? Like up to dozen max?

Check out @Debbie292d incubator recommendation. It’s actually the one I use for my Serama eggs and a 2nd one for a backup. It’s great for smaller batches of eggs. I’ve had a lot of success with it.

 

[Weetamoo93]

Just wanted to update: that chick did not make it and I'm working on an incubator

But that pullet gave it another shot and hatched out some beautiful chicks in a perfect 8 out of 8 hatch.