Chick in shell not doing well

[ruple1984]

Ok I need help...I have posted so much lately but I'm gonna explain the whole story in case it will help.... My Rhode Island Red hen became broody so we let her lay on eggs she has six we noticed there were no eggs from the other hens so I looked under her she had about 30 eggs....so I candled each 6 had big chicks so I let her keep those the rest I put in an incubator! Big mistake! They are all at different stages! So for the past two weeks we have been helping chicks their membranes are all dry... I have only had one die...yesterday one pipped the air sack so I opened the shell and it appeared to be ready I waited for blood veins to slowly recede and it did great! Got the top off shell and the chick is half way out all the sudden a gush of fluid came out of its mouth so I had a qtip and I dryed it and I blew in its face it finally started peeping! Well I took a flash light and looked at the bottom of the egg and it still has huge blood veins the top receded but not the bottom so I propped it up in incubator and its still resting...first question is how long can blood veins take to recede?? It hasn't bled from any of them!!! Ohh and also when I seen the fluid gush out of mouth there was a fluid filled bubble on its neck! I could see bubbles in it!!! And today it has gone down!!! If not gone I didn't look too long tried to keep it in the incubator...so anyway I just want it to survive and it's lively no yolk! Just blood veins one vein I could see on its foot! How can I help it to soak up the blood faster? Thanks!!!! Sorry for such a long story...oh we did have mites in the coop so I ended up moving eggs constantly...lost about 7-9 chicks to the mites but the rest seem good just all dry membranes and I have had to hatch all! It's been a mess!!!!!! The attached pic is of the chick just a minute ago tried to get a pic of the veins so I could get some help thanks!!!!!

 

[ruple1984]

 

[tastybabies]

Theyre skin can be bubbly for a few days. its weird because we're expecting wet little fluff balls and not fluffy little water balloons. it can take time, just let the chick rest, sometimes it can take an extra day or two for all the blood to absorb. it limits down to their movement and a few other things. it'll kick the shell off when its ready.

 

[ruple1984]

I'm freaking out just got home and now I have two chicks that were doing great just laying there feet all shriveled so I hand fed it water little drops proped neck up for them to swallow and one bubbles up and puked up yellow stuff and died! (((( the other is just still laying there! Maybe I gave the one too much water and it shocked its system!! Idk! This is just crazy!!!!!

 

[ruple1984]

 

[ruple1984]

This ones alive barely

 

[LTygress]

I'm a little more worried that you're actually helping all of them. Why not let nature take its course? The membranes inside of the eggs are GOING to dry out really quickly if you're tearing away the shell. The membranes dry out that way faster than the chick "develops" during hatching. And a chick can NOT hatch it's own way out of a shell with a dried membrane, because the membrane often dries itself to the chick's down and keeps it from turning.

So what you're doing here, may be causing a problem where there was no problem.

A chick pips the inner membrane. It gives him air, but it's still VERY humid and nothing dries out since the shell itself is still closed. Then the chick pips the outer shell. It's a tiny hole which gives him fresh air, but still not enough to dry the membrane out. Once the chick starts the "zip" phase, the gooey liquid that is still inside allows him to spin around inside of the egg to continue cracking the shell all the way around. Then he pushes himself out.

Cracking the shell at any point before the chick is ready to make the external pip will dry it out and keep him from turning. Opening the shell enough to "see inside" before the chick has begun to zip will also dry it out before the chick hatches. So it kinda sounds like the biggest problem is that you're jumping the gun.

As for the one puking up yellow stuff, that is actually a good possibility that handling him too soon may have popped the yolk sac after he absorbed it. Absorbing the yolk sac is one of the very last things that they do before they hatch. This is why we have to leave them alone in the incubator until they are dry and (pretty much) fluffy. We can EASILY break the yolk sac when they first hatch because it is barely even covered by skin. The yolk sac is also why they usually don't need water or food for the first day or so.

And last but not least, chicks will be sleep after almost every phase of hatching. Internal pip, sleep. External pip, sleep. Zip and hatch, sleep. Learn to steady themselves and stay upright, sleep. And during the first 1-3 days, they will sleep A LOT. And when they sleep, it will look like they are dead, because they just pass out on the ground right there - wings splayed, legs sticking out, neck stretched, etc.

So it really IS best to just leave them alone. If you want to see if they are alive, just watch them - you'll see the movement of their body as they breathe. Other than that, let them rest. After you learn the various stages and events in the hatching process, it'll be easier to determine when something isn't right and you DO need to step in. But the reason we can incubate chick eggs and then just toss them food and water, is because they DO hatch on their own, and know how to take care of themselves.

 

[ruple1984]

Ohhh wow! I had no idea! Thank you sooo much!!!!!