Baby chick stuck

[LeezaJ]

Okay, did you help previously? Because that's much more open than I was expecting, not exactly pipped or zipped. Definitely helpful to have the picture, my advice is different now. That chick is likely to get shrink wrapped with that much exposure. Do you still see active veins?

No haven’t helped. Literally popped at 4 pm yesterday, been like this now since about 8am this morning. What should I do? I’m too scared to help it as it looks like it’s stuck to shell….

 

[LeezaJ]

It’s moving though…..

 

[Finnie]

It looks like your other eggs haven’t pipped yet? Here’s what I would do, which might not be popular:

I would write that one off as a loss, while hoping that it’s still alive after the rest hatch. Then I would leave the incubator alone while I wait for the rest of the hatch. Once the other chicks are out, then I would pick that one up and carefully crack the top half of the shell off and see if the chick will kick its way out. It may be dead by then, so moot point. Or, by some miracle it may have hatched on its own by then. Either way, by the time the rest of the chicks hatch, this one shouldn’t have active bleeding veins any longer. So it will be safe then (as safe as it’s gonna get) to just bust the thing out of its shell.

Yeah, I’m a little heavier handed than a lot of folks.

In my experience, what you have there is a chick that instead of zipping around its circumference, made itself a window-hole. Again in my experience, those window type zips never progress beyond the window but I have saved a few by giving them time to absorb their veins and yolk, and then when it’s safe to do so, bust them out.

But be prepared, not all chicks that pip and begin zipping live. Just a fact of life. And there will be non-viable chicks that hatch but don’t survive. Good luck!