Chick stuck in egg, help!

[Sylviaanne]

One chick has zipped it's shell but it's like the shell glued back down, or seeped something that glued the shell in place. I tried pulling some shell off but I think I pulled some fluff with it so I stopped. I did get some of the air sack end of the shell off and there is no blood veins there. I thought about putting the egg under running water but I'm afraid I might drown the chick. I wet paper towels and wrapped the egg, hoping that it might loosen the "glue" and put it back in the incubator. There is a 2nd chick who has zipped and it looks like the shell might be trying to glue down but I'm not going to mess with that one until I know for sure.

Any suggestions as to what I can do that wouldn't risk the chick?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Yes you have done the right thing by wrapping in paper towel and putting back in incubator. I would also suggest trying to get your humidity up as much as you can to try and moisten the membrane that's sticking. If that fails I would try wetting the bits you can get too with cotton bud/ qtip and gently start removing the shell. Hope this helps and your chicks get out ok.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Granted I've only had chickens 3 years but every year I have hatched eggs, I've never seen this before. Any idea what causes it?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Low humidity and opening the incubator during lockdown are the main causes of shrink wrapped chicks. Getting them out can sometimes be difficult because you have to be very careful with chipping away at the shell I found small tweezers work best. If after you have wet the membrane and it still doesn't manage to get out you will have to try and cut it very carefully without catching the chick. There are some other threads on shrink wrap sorry I can't add them I foolishly updated my iPad with that iOS 8 and it now won't Copy links or upload pics.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Low humidity and opening the incubator during lockdown are the main causes of shrink wrapped chicks. Getting them out can sometimes be difficult because you have to be very careful with chipping away at the shell I found small tweezers work best. If after you have wet the membrane and it still doesn't manage to get out you will have to try and cut it very carefully without catching the chick. There are some other threads on shrink wrap sorry I can't add them I foolishly updated my iPad with that iOS 8 and it know won't Copt link or upload pics.

I have seen the inside membrane shrink wrapped around chicks, this is different. It makes me think that if the chick hadn't pipped when it did, it might have drowned. It's like the "juice?" inside the shell sealed the zippered opening.

 

[luvmychixandducks]

Incubators refer to these chicks as being shrink wrapped for obvious reasons - and the cause is not enough humidity during the first 18 days.
The last three days, when you turn off the egg turner and let the fuzzies sit still for their final entrance, you should increase the humidity to combat this shrink wrap situation.
The opposite situation is too much humidity and this leads to chicks drowning in the egg before they begin the pipping process.
Good rule to follow - do a dry hatch until the 18 day lockdown then up the humidity for 3 days until the first chicks hatch. You'll know if the humidity is ok or needs improvement by how easily the first hatchers come out of their shells.
I have hatched both ways - and the dry hatch followed by increased humidity led to the best hatch rate. A dry hatch means normal room humidity not desert conditions.
There are many hatching aids web sites etc. - - folks who have tried all of the options - to assist you in determining the proper humidity for both the first 18 and the 3 day lockdown.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Maybe then if you think it could have drown if hadn't pipped could the humidity have been too high during incubation? I have never encountered this type of problem before but think I would still continue to treat it as shrink wrap. I have just had a thought though you don't think its yolk sac could have ruptured in the egg and that's whats sticking it?

 

[Sylviaanne]

Incubators refer to these chicks as being shrink wrapped for obvious reasons - and the cause is not enough humidity during the first 18 days.
The last three days, when you turn off the egg turner and let the fuzzies sit still for their final entrance, you should increase the humidity to combat this shrink wrap situation.
The opposite situation is too much humidity and this leads to chicks drowning in the egg before they begin the pipping process.
Good rule to follow - do a dry hatch until the 18 day lockdown then up the humidity for 3 days until the first chicks hatch. You'll know if the humidity is ok or needs improvement by how easily the first hatchers come out of their shells.
I have hatched both ways - and the dry hatch followed by increased humidity led to the best hatch rate. A dry hatch means normal room humidity not desert conditions.
There are many hatching aids web sites etc. - - folks who have tried all of the options - to assist you in determining the proper humidity for both the first 18 and the 3 day lockdown.

I have only done dry hatches since the first time I hatched this year. We had so much rain at that time that I was afraid for them so only did dry hatches after that. Only a few times have the incubators gone below 30% humidity and I would put a wet paper towel in to raise it. This time the hatch started out dry but then it rained and the humidity has been all over the place, including down to 28% and up to 65%. It was high when they started to hatch so I just left them alone, keeping an eye on the heat and humidity through the window.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Maybe then if you think it could have drown if hadn't pipped could the humidity have been too high during incubation? I have never encountered this type of problem before but think I would still continue to treat it as shrink wrap. I have just had a thought though you don't think its yolk sac could have ruptured in the egg and that's whats sticking it?

I just don't know. I do know that the rain causes the humidity to go up even though the lids are on. I sure hope the egg sack didn't rupture. If it did, that baby won't make it no matter what. It needs that for food. And yes, I guess that it could have ruptured but the zip doesn't look a bit yellow, it looks clear. It maybe possible that the yellow would look clear when it dries, right? But there is no yellow running down the outside of the egg, in fact, nothing running down the outside of the egg, just around the zip.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I'm just not sure then. I think I would leave it a little longer and if it can't get out go ahead and assist it. The very best of luck