Changed thread title: New Question re: Quick, should I help this chick

[Carli]

ETA: So looking at the pictures here, it appears that the pip might've actually been an accident, as opposed to a real pip. Like the shell broke, as opposed to the chick pipping. The chick hadn't made it into the airsack yet, am I right? So the blood in the following picture was, if I'm thinking right, from the mama hen pecking at it. Her beak had blood on it. And the fake pip or accident would explain why it was the only one to pip yesterday and still none of the others pipping yet...am I getting this right?

Just trying to fully understand what happened here today. Please tell me your thoughts and experiences!


I went to check the broody and her eggs. The one that pipped last night had a piece of shell that I could pull back. There wasn't anymore pipping since last night from this egg or the others. I pulled a few pieces back and thought maybe there wasn't anything in there but as I pulled a bit more off, I could see an air pocket that was quite large and it seemed the membrane/chick was only taking up about half the shell...the space was large. The membrane looked quite dry and I wonder how this baby knocked that shell open at all if it's sitting in the other half? But I did see a tiny bit of movement beneath the membrane...very little, like a heartbeat, but I wonder if I should help it out. It's been over 12 hours since the first pip. Do I help it out???

 

[jbowyer01]

I think your suppose to wait 24hours but I could be wrong. I hope this will bump ya so you can get a little help.

 

[jbowyer01]

Oh I didnt see the pic until now, poor little one is very close to being out.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Definitely looks like it's dried out... Dab a tiny bit of water on the membrane with a q-tip or your finger and put a tiny hole in it to give the chick air and make sure it don't drown... You can chip tiny pieces of shell off little by little but if there is ANY blood, put it back under the broody... You can help the chick hatch safely as long as it has already absorbed the yolk but you do not want to do all the work for it.. It need to be strong enough to get out by itself.. If you wet the membrane closest to the shell and put a small hole in the membrane, put it back under the hen and it may be able to hatch out on it's own...

Goddess

 

[mrsengeseth]

get it warm, under a lamp, but moist too. you can gently paint a little water onto the membrane with a gentle paintbrush. And poke a small hole in the membrane. Small, real small. Do you see movement? It could be resting , pipping is a lotta work for these little ones. You can give it back to broody and let her deal with it or you can take it inside and do it yourself. I would take it inside. But if you leave it with broody, just keep an eye on it. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[Carli]

Baby chick is dead. I went back to the brooder and found the shell broken open quite a bit and blood everywhere. I brought it in thinking she was dead but she moved a bit so I finished taking her out of the shell. She moved a teeny bit but then stopped moving all together. It appeared that she had developed with her intestines outside her belly. Or, please oh please tell me that wasn't the yolk. ??? Now we wait for the rest to hatch...still no other pips.

 

[PhilErvin]

When I have encountered a chick having a hard time getting out I usually just give it time. However, if it appears too dry I put warm water in a spray bottle and spritz it a bit. So far so good.

 

[Carli]

Here's what I found:

And here's what it looked like when we determined she was dead:

I'm now dying to know: do you think she could've made it? is that just the yolk? it appeared to be an intestinal sack, the way it was attached at the belly. I hope we didn't just lose a chick because of my stupidity.

 

[ZooMummzy]

I'm not an expert but it looks like the yolk to me

I do know how you feel but try not to be too hard on yourself. I lost a chick the other night due to me getting antsy and wanting to help. It happens. I am using it as a learning tool - live and learn.

 

[Gypsy07]

Don't be too hard on yourself. If you'd left it alone it might have absorbed the yolk and hatched, and it might not. I've had ones like that in that past that have pipped their shell and then died without getting any further. And when the hatch is finished and I crack the pipped egg open to investigate, they look just the same as your chickie does in that second pic. Yes, you can kill them by interfering too soon and when they don't really need helping at all, but remember that some of them will just die for no obvious reason. Every hatch I've done so far I've had chicks that die really late on in the incubation, like day 18, 19, 20, as well as ones that pip and then die after pipping.