Day 19, first hatched but I had to help after it didnt start zipping..

[Pureupto99per]

This is my first batch of eggs I'm hatching (8 Delaware Giants, all move when candled and veins are visible)... I built my own incubator and I currently have seven chickens (two barred rock, three americauna, one cochin, and one buff orphington) in my homemade three story coop...

The thing I'm really worried about is that I had to help my first chick (none of the others have pipped yet but three are moving and shaking) out of it's shell after it didnt start "zipping" after 6 hours... the outside membrane was really white. I read up on how to help (she was still really strong and chirping but just not moving around) so I slowly did the zipping for her and she pushed herself out... I didnt know what to do with the connected egg shell so I stuck the chick and the connected egg (when I was zipping it I was very careful to make sure the visible veins were clear and not flowing before I would proceed.. it took me about three hours to finish)... anyway the chicks shell was bloody when it finally disconnected from it and that worried me, but the chick pulled through and is now doing fine in the brooder.

My question, how can I do better if I need to help another chick? less blood loss? I know that its my humidity which I didnt turn up on the 18th day, but now I'm spraying them with a water bottle occasionally and trying to keep the humidity around 65.... What I'm asking about is how to help them better if need be.

Thanks for any advice!!

 

[Mahonri]

Once you hit day 18, you never open the incubator until day 21.

Eggs can pip and take 24 hours to zip sometimes.... especially if they pipped so early on day 19.

Oh, and welcome to BYC.

Read through the stickies at the top of the Incuabating and Hatching Eggs section, it will help you understand.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I have made a decision. Some may think its heartless, some may not. I have found most times when I try to "help" a chick out of a shell, the chick dies for whatever reason. I will no longer help chicks out of their shell.

In nature, they wouldn't survive. They have to be strong to survive. So they have to get themselves out of their own shell from now on. I won't intervene. When I first got into this, every single death broke my heart. Tore me apart. It's a fact of life. Some live, some die.

Laurie

 

[Pureupto99per]

well, unfortunately I did open the incubator and the baby was having trouble (I honestly think it would have died, she was a big chick and the humidity was bad (my fault))... I had to do something... I'll read through the stickies

thanks Mahonri.

And Laurie, I dont think your heartless

... but I too, like you, had to try to help. We named him/her "Leonard the Great"... and fortunately he/she's doing really well so far.


Leonard the Great with one of my sons toys to snuggle with:

 

[Chicken Chat]

Pureupto99per, In my own experience, I fill the two side water reserviors up on day 18 and put a clean sponge (not wet yet) in there directly under the front red plug. Sometimes just the two reserviors will bump the humidity up to 65%, so I wait until I get a pip. Then I open the front red plug, lower in a straw attached to a funnel, and add water to my sponge. I have found that when I get the humidity up to 70 -75% after that first pip, the chicks have an easier time zipping and I get high hatch rates when I do this. They still take around 6-8 hours after that first pip to start zipping.
You did a great job on getting him out of there. He/she is adorable with that stuffed toy, congrats!

 

[kathyinmo]

Ohhhhhh, I love your picture! That is one chubby little chick! Really cute!

 

[Suechick]

Hi, congrats on your first chick!

It sure is a cutie.

And

It sounds like the help you offered didn't do any damage at all! The shells often have a little bit of blood in the bottom after a hatch so I don't think you need to concern yourself with that. Hopefully, if you keep your humidity up high enough you won't have to worry about helping for the others. It is hard to wait, but try to have patience during hatching. I helped a couple of chicks during my first hatch. They both did OK, but one is a runt and will probably always be small. They certainly would have died if I didn't help, 'cause they were "shrink wrapped." For my next hatch I made sure I had real good humidity, around 70%, and none of that batch got stuck. So, I think humidity is the key during the hatch cycle to help make it easier for the little cuties to hatch.

Good luck with the rest of your hatch!

Oh, and I'd love to see pictures of your 3 story coop, sounds cool.

 

[jjparke]

Quote:
Same ideal here. If they can't hatch themself they shouldn't be alive for one reason or another. Any that I have helped in the past always had defects and I had to dispose of them anyway. That's never fun. Prepare yourself to deal with it though because it will happen if you continue to hatch.

 

[Pureupto99per]

Well, maybe all you natural selection-ers are right... "Leonard the Great" ended up dying in the brooder this afternoon. I'm really sad.

 

[ZooMummzy]

I am sorry for your loss

I lost the first chick that hatched out on Saturday morning that very night. She just died. I didn't help her (I followed my instructions from silkiechicken and others to NOT open the incubator at all) and she still died. Their deaths tear me up but I am getting better at understanding it is just the way it is. My point is, I'm sure you helping her did not make her die. She probably had something else wrong with her. Two hours after my little one died, my second chick hatched (day 22) followed by the third one the next afternoon (day 23). Both are doing great. The other two eggs never hatched but they were fully developed, one pipped, but simply quit before hatching. Again, it happens. Oh and all my zips took place 8-14 hours after the first pip. Just an FYI from another newbie

I now have 25 more eggs in, trying again. Good luck with the rest of your hatch!