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

[silkiechicken]

Chick wasn't ready to hatch. Probably needed another 12-24 hours to adsorb the yolk sac there. Intestines look like loops. After a pip, a chick will rest for anywhere from 6-24 hours before starting to get out. Sometimes they wait 48-72 hours if they pipped early and did not adsorb all their blood or yolk yet.

Don't worry, you're not the first and won't be the last to "help" a chick out.

 

[DMSrabbit]

Quote:
I second this.. I lose about 1-5 chicks every hatch (from 30-40 chicks). Some are born with defects, others with parts of their anatomy outside the body, abnormal size or deformed structure, etc. You will ALWAYS have to cull a few chicks every now and again, and just realize that they WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT ANYWAY.. Nearly EVERY chick that i help come out of the shell either has problems like splayed leg or deformities, or dies within 48 hours of breaking out of the shell. Of the successful probably 20 that i have helped out that lived, all had splayed legs, or other deformities, and i could only repair 2 of them. Honestly this may sound cruel; but i have a new rule with chicks.. If they cant get out on their own, then i don't help them.. I understand that everyone is different, but i need to KNOW that those little babies are going to have what it takes to survive without help. Just think if this was nature, there would be no interdiction, and they would die. I have had broody mamas push problem chicks out of the nest, because they don't want their resources to be squandered on a chick that wont make it. This is ok by me... Survival of the fittest (or most adapted)!!

 

[Carli]

Wow. Thanks for the replies. This is going to be a long day.

Question: Why would one pip 15-18 hours ago and none of the others yet?

 

[terrilhb]

I am so sorry for your loss

to you. Don't blame yourself. Good luck with the rest. Please keep us informed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Yes, there can be a lot of difference in when individual eggs pip and hatch, even in the same brood. Some may have been a bit warmer or cooler than others, heredity will affect whether they are a bit early or late, smaller eggs of the same breed will hatch a bit earlier than larger eggs. Why was my first son three weeks past his due date and the second smack on? It is the varieties of life.

Don't beat yourself up but please, leave the broody alone so she can do her job. Live and learn.

 

[Carli]

New questions/thoughts in my original post #1. Please comment with your experiences!

 

[silkiechicken]

To your new question, mom could have accidently broke the egg. I'd let mom sit tight and wait a few days to see what happens. The shell does get brittle when the growing embryo develops.

 

[Petej]

I lost a few Chicken and Quail chicks in my hatches. I call it "acceptable loss".

Mother nature just didn't intend for some to survive.....

 

[Gypsy07]

"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?"

Well, maybe. I'm not sure. I wouldn't be too quick to blame the hen. From my own early experiments with over eager 'helping' (now known as killing!) chicks, if they've pipped but they're not quite ready to hatch out yet and you pick at the shell, they start to bleed. Inside the egg they're surrounded by blood vessels which don't dry up until a while after pipping. Like, an hour or two with fast hatchers but maybe 36 hours with the slower ones. And when you pick at the shell and the membrane, you burst these vessels and the chick bleeds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Interesting point. The time it takes between pipping and zipping is not just a rest period. It is a time for the egg and chick to prepare itself for the next stage of hatching, such as drying up the blood vessels and absorbing the yolk. Even more reason to leave the eggs alone.

To the OP's new question. Where would the blood on the hen's beak come from? No, I believe the blood came from the egg itself.