Chick with entire beak out, shell is gone but membrane is almost completely intact

[melun]

Hi, this is my first time hatching and using the incubator and I'm hoping that somebody can help. I have a chick that pipped strangely, instead of the first hole/unzipping that the other chick have been doing, this one has its beak and part of its face out. I first noticed it yesterday afternoon, on day 21. I've been keeping an eye on it, she has now managed to break most of the shell off but the membrane is still almost completely intact other than where her beak is. She is fighting hard, but I don't think she can get through the membrane. I can't tell if it is dried, pretty much all I see is chick.

I have other eggs in the incubator, so I know that I shouldn't open it, but I guess I'm just asking is there hope for this one? I have one more egg that looks close to coming out, after that one hatches I would be willing to assist it but I don't want to jeopardize the rest of them. I'm also concerned because I have two in the incubator that I had yesterday, and they have started picking at it.

Photo attached.

 

[melun]

It's not a very good picture, the plastic on my incubator lid is very scratched up but the beak is out at the lower bottom right. Pretty much all of the face up to the eyes has been out since I first noticed it yesterday.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hi, this is my first time hatching and using the incubator and I'm hoping that somebody can help. I have a chick that pipped strangely, instead of the first hole/unzipping that the other chick have been doing, this one has its beak and part of its face out. I first noticed it yesterday afternoon, on day 21. I've been keeping an eye on it, she has now managed to break most of the shell off but the membrane is still almost completely intact other than where her beak is. She is fighting hard, but I don't think she can get through the membrane. I can't tell if it is dried, pretty much all I see is chick.

I have other eggs in the incubator, so I know that I shouldn't open it, but I guess I'm just asking is there hope for this one? I have one more egg that looks close to coming out, after that one hatches I would be willing to assist it but I don't want to jeopardize the rest of them. I'm also concerned because I have two in the incubator that I had yesterday, and they have started picking at it.




Photo attached.

If you have your humidity up 70/75% you should be able to remove your chicks or help if you feel you must. The key is to have your humidity up and make suret that the bator regains it quickly after you are done. Keep a sponge or cloth (wet of course) handy and add that to your bator when you close it back up to bring the humidity back up. While caution is always good, and opening the bator can cause complecations, it's rare unless you have extremely low humidity to begin with and are allowing dry air to flow over your pipped eggs for an extended times. It's more likely that you might see the membrane dry out a bit around the pip if it is subjected to the air too long. I hatch at 75% and I open my bator repeatedly during a hatch. I remove my chicks and shells, I turn over my pipped eggs that have been rolled and if I feel it is absolutely neccessary I will assist. I would be assiting it in this case. However, you should only do what is comfortable to you. I just wnated to let you know that certain doom will not befall your eggs if you open your bator as long as you are taking the right precautions.

 

[gpop1]

I would get a bowl of warm water about 100 degrees F then quickly open the incubator and pull the egg out and close incubator. Dip hand in warm water then wipe the membrane with my fingers it should go transparent and roll away from the beak area. (do not get water in chicks mouth)
The chicks head is under the wing so once you have the wing free the head will uncurl and the chick should be out. You shouldn't see any blood but if you do get a little spot near its belly that bleeds just stick a piece of dry tissue to it like a shaving cut and place it back in the incubator. With planning this should be a 60 second job and the incubator should only be open a few seconds at a time. (if your humidity is hard to regain put the bowl of warm water in there as well)

I have a wine cooler hatcher so im able to go in mine all the time as I can regain humidity and temp really fast and ive never had a bad effect from doing so. Only you know how your incubator handles opening the lid so you will have to decide.

 

[melun]

OK, I went for it. I had my husband help me by lifting the lid, he threw a sponge in while I scooped her up in a warm wet cloth, he scooped out the hatched and dry chicks, then lid down. I took her into the bathroom, by the time I got there she had been almost completely released from the membrane just from the cloth, I used wet Q-tips to moisten the area around the pip hole. I could see around her beak where the other chicks had drawn blood or possibly the egg shell had been rubbing against her, but there was no blood when removing the membrane and the yolk was completely absorbed. Membrane was completely dry and crackly, I don't think she would've been able to get out on her own. Put her back into the incubator. I hope that the humidity and temperature didn't drop too much. I probably should have put her in the brooder to warm up instead, but I was trying to do it quickly and panicked. I guess now we just hope for the best. If she dies now at least I gave her a chance.

This is what the membrane looked like after I removed it.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

OK, I went for it. I had my husband help me by lifting the lid, he threw a sponge in while I scooped her up in a warm wet cloth, he scooped out the hatched and dry chicks, then lid down. I took her into the bathroom, by the time I got there she had been almost completely released from the membrane just from the cloth, I used wet Q-tips to moisten the area around the pip hole. I could see around her beak where the other chicks had drawn blood or possibly the egg shell had been rubbing against her, but there was no blood when removing the membrane and the yolk was completely absorbed. Membrane was completely dry and crackly, I don't think she would've been able to get out on her own. Put her back into the incubator. I hope that the humidity and temperature didn't drop too much. I probably should have put her in the brooder to warm up instead, but I was trying to do it quickly and panicked. I guess now we just hope for the best. If she dies now at least I gave her a chance.

This is what the membrane looked like after I removed it.

Good job!

She'll bounce back. The membrane looks like it was drying out, which isn't unusual when you have a pip open that much for that long. It probably made it hard for her to finish the hatch or turn. Hopefully she'll be running aaround in no time and encouraging the others! Congrats!

 

[melun]

The three chicks that hatched yesterday seem to be doing well in the brooder, they are eating and drinking.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

The three chicks that hatched yesterday seem to be doing well in the brooder, they are eating and drinking.

I take it the dish in the right corner is water?? Do you have some marbles or sanitary rocks you could place in the water to keep the newbies from drowning? Open water and baby chicks isn't always a good thing.

 

[gpop1]

we learn by doing It had zero chance of surviving so there was nothing to lose. You might have to bump start it with chick saver (warm water with dissolved sugar also works) after a few hours if it is still weak.
Do not drip chick saver in to the beak it has to drip away from the beak or just put the very tip of the beak into a spoon of the mix. A few drops should be enough to get a little more lively.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

we learn by doing It had zero chance of surviving so there was nothing to lose. You might have to bump start it with chick saver (warm water with dissolved sugar also works) after a few hours if it is still weak.
Do not drip chick saver in to the beak it has to drip away from the beak or just put the very tip of the beak into a spoon of the mix. A few drops should be enough to get a little more lively.

I use save a chick in my water the first couple days. I swear by that stuff. My chicks are always lively and active.