baby chick zipping,got stepped on by hen,what to do?! still need help!

[77horses]

Two broody hens are sitting on eggs and so far two chicks have hatched successfully...a third one hatched but one of the other hens in the coop attacked and killed it.

So I separated the hen from the chicks/broody hens and now, another is zipping and I think one of the broodies stepped on it because they both have been getting on and off the nest (they're sharing the broody job) to forage a little with the two hatched chicks. The egg is a little crushed and there's some blood, but the chick is still peeping and moving as of right now. I closed up the coop so its dark in there right now to prevent the broody hens from moving around and stepping on the egg and causing further damage, but I'm worried the damage has already been done...the chick is still moving and peeping and is almost halfway through pipping, and the membrane is looking a little dry, but my concern is the blood...it's not too much, but it's enough to make me worried that it wont make it, even though it's so close to hatching.

Please help! I don't know what to do and I don't want to lose another baby chick.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

IMO if there is blood you may want to remove it and see if you can help it out and then put it back under mom later that night. I'm thinking she may try to pick at the blood

Do you have an incubator? If you do I would stick the egg in there to let it finish up it's hatch. Hope it is ok! Let us know what happens.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
No I don't have an incubator, unfortunately.

The only thing I could think to do is completely close up the coop so its dark in there so she won't be able to move around/see the blood and peck at it.

and another problem is...what do I do with the hen that keeps trying to attack the baby chicks? The broody hens obviously aren't doing a good job of protecting them like they should and I don't have an extra coop or anything to keep her in...and she obviously can't sleep outside...but I can't put her in the coop, otherwise she'll attack the baby chicks.

eta: how exactly could I "help it out"?

 

[77horses]

okay...so far we have it inside on a damp paper towel with a heat lamp over it. It's breathing, peeping, and moving around more so that's a good sign. And it seems to have stopped bleeding. It even opened its eyes a couple times and tried to lift its head/kick free from the egg shell. It's head is completely free, but it's legs and lower body are still halfway in the shell. Also, I've been dabbing the membrane (which was white and dried out) with warm water to keep it moist, and it seems like right now the chick is resting and probably still absorbing the yolk. So we're just going to let it rest and keep it warm until it comes out itself, as long as it's not bleeding anymore and it's still breathing. So far so good.

Again, any other suggestions are highly appreciated/needed.
Thanks.

 

[77horses]

Again, any other suggestions are highly appreciated/needed.
Thanks.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Usually when the chick has started to zip the yolk has already been absorbed. What your doing looks like it is working just make sure the heat lamp isn't to close and it gets to hot. Good luck. Sending you

 

[GAchick]

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. I'm sure someone with more incubating experience than I will be able to give you further advice. Past a certain # of hours, you may be advised to help it hatch. (Don't worry, it's a fairly long time before you need to 'do' anything). Most will advise you to let nature take it's course. Camp is divided on whether you should intervene at all. Some will say yes. I helped one hatch earlier this year. It has deformed feet, now, but gets around pretty good anyway.

 

[77horses]

Thanks everyone! The chick is out of the shell and still breathing (with a little bit of peeping/movement), but it definitely seems really tired...It hasn't opened its eyes that much either.
Now that its out of the egg, I can see that a little bit of the yolk sac hasn't been fully absorbed (along with some of the veins, which clearly still have blood in them and haven't been absorbed/dried up yet). So right now its just resting still and I have it under a heat lamp (which I'm making sure isn't too hot), and hopefully the little bit of yolk left will be absorbed or dry up.

 

[clbdownunder]

Good job! Have you given the baby back to the moms yet?

 

[77horses]

UPDATE: we decided to keep the baby chick in a box with a heat lamp over night rather than giving her back to the mother hen, because she was still really weak and we weren't sure if she would make it through the night. This morning, she's doing a lot better!

Her eyes are open and she's peeping and trying to walk around, although she's still really clumsy and can't really stand up yet. She also drank a few tiny drops of water.

We're going to keep her in the box for a little while longer today to let her fully recover, and then we'll return her back to her mother and the two other chicks.

Thanks for all the help everyone!