Bad Pip!

[FluffyButtBabies]

What do I do? I'm pretty sure she's pipping at the wrong end. Also, the pip looks more like a crack, but I haven't touched the egg so that's how I know it's not. Will I have to help her? I don't want to do anything until I know for sure...

 

[Kiraeh]

Even in a closed, properly humid incubator, having an external pip for that long can let things dry out.
It's time for The Article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

This is the best info out there, and will help you assist safely.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Re-asses as late this evening as you can. Can you see her beak? I would be concerned if she stops peeping, then she could have started suffocating. when the other chicks start actively hatching she's probably ready. My mistake was: I helped 12 hours after pip (broke some shel away), chick was not ready, membrane started bleeding, applied cornstarch, dried out membrane bc of the lack of shell, chick put it's beak back in to egg and suffocated and yeah, it just went downhill. Raise your humidity a little to help keep membrane moist. Don't get too attached, this is a severely malposistioned chick who's gonna need a small miracle to make it. And don't pull away shell prematurely like I did

 

[MGG]

Yep. That's a fractured pip (I think they call it that?? ) it's when the embryo is facing the wrong way, so thus can't pip through the air cell like it should. They have to pip extra hard to break through both the shell and the membrane at the same time. My mistake I made when I had this situation was assisting too early. You see, it is probably not ready to hatch. The crack you see is acting as both an internal pip and external pip so it may be 24 hours or so before it's ready to hatch. Does that make sense? If this was a normal, correctly positioned chick it would only be internally pipped at this point in time. Write down when you first noticed it. Don't assist for 24 hours unless it's starting to decline. You will probably most likely have to help her

I had one of these a couple hatches ago, and it hatched on its own in 34 hours. He did great. So OP might not have to assist. If you do try to assist though, give it at least 30 hours. 24 hours will be too early since this is also the internal pip.

 

[quailmama 82012]

this has happened to me before too. the first time i too helped early and he ended up dying. just yesterday though it happened again and i didnt help and it hatched just fine. i think they just take a little longer and can pull through on there own. but i am no expert!

 

[LynnaePB]

So here's the deal. She still hasn't made any progress. She's moving around a lot and peeping, but can't seem to widen the crack or zip. There doesn't seem to be any blood around the membrane by the crack, so should I widen it for her? Or do I have to worry about her getting shrink wrapped? I'm obviously not planning to do anything till noon (almost 30 hours after she first pipped). Will it be okay to help then?

(Just saw you were linked to the article while I was writing this rather lengthy response, it's been very helpful to me, perhaps some of the below will still be helpful though).

Can you see her beak well? Chicks that aren't ready to come out yet will fairly frequently make yawning/chewing motions with their beak which means they are still finishing up absorbing yolk/blood vessels or both. Is she striking out with her beak very often and not also yawning/chewing? If so she may be about ready.

Usually when I have a chick that is having trouble turning to zip they will widen their pip and keep on striking out and often peep more insistently.

I've had lots of chicks hatch just fine from this position (the majority of them) but chances of them needing assistance does go up a bit when they hatch from the narrow end.

When I have little ones hatching in this position I often widen the pip just a bit (enough so I can easily monitor breathing and get a better view of the beak. You do have to be careful about blood vessels. I make sure to have some tissue/paper towels at hand in case I hit a blood vessel so I can quickly stop bleeding.

Once the little one is showing signs of being ready to come out but having trouble turning to zip I carefully start breaking a bit of shell the same way the chick would if it could turn to zip. If I misjudge and see there is any bleeding I quickly stop the bleeding and put the egg back in the incubator and give it some more time (while carefully watching to make sure the baby is doing alright).

You'll want to stay nearby if you can and check in often as the biggest danger would be the chick managing to turn in the shell but not breaking the shell thus losing access to air.

Usually when I have to assist this position everything turns out fine (even when I do happen to hit a blood vessel). It can be difficult knowing exactly when assistance is needed especially when you are new to assisting. If you are careful and go slowly and make sure to quickly stop any bleeding you'll likely have a positive outcome (though occasionally they just won't make it for whatever reason).

The few I've had who didn't make it in this position either had trouble switching from using their blood vessel network to using their lungs or turned in the egg away from the pip and suffocated themselves. Your baby already sounds like it's got a good handle on breathing so just watch out to make sure she doesn't turn herself away from the pip.

Good luck, I hope everything goes smoothly for the little one!

 

[AltonaAcres]

Yep. That's a fractured pip (I think they call it that?? ) it's when the embryo is facing the wrong way, so thus can't pip through the air cell like it should. They have to pip extra hard to break through both the shell and the membrane at the same time. My mistake I made when I had this situation was assisting too early. You see, it is probably not ready to hatch. The crack you see is acting as both an internal pip and external pip so it may be 24 hours or so before it's ready to hatch. Does that make sense? If this was a normal, correctly positioned chick it would only be internally pipped at this point in time. Write down when you first noticed it. Don't assist for 24 hours unless it's starting to decline. You will probably most likely have to help her

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

Awesome guys, thanks for the help! I was really stressed out because I've never really had this problem before. I don't think she's having trouble breathing, I can hear her peep and the shell moves occasionally. It's a pretty big crack. I'll wait till tomorrow morning/afternoon to help if I really need to. Hopefully it won't come to that!

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

Ok! Her beak is very visible, and she is being very loud and rocking the egg. Her pip is decently sized too, she keeps trying to push more out in that area (she isn't really zipping though). I really haven't assisted before, so I don't want to do it unless it's really necessary. I'll keep and eye on her to see if she gets stuck while turning. But for now I'm just going to let her try and get out on her own.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Not that long. As soon as they are completely fluffed off the navel is usually dry and healed. All of my help-outs have slightly raw navels I would say. I think the way they are malpositioned makes it hard for it to close up in the egg. I would love to see pictures!