Day 23 and chick is struggling to hatch, I unzipped - not sure what to do now

[Kaidorke]

hi there,

This is my first time incubating and hatching all on my own. Other times was the agriculture class project at school a couple of years ago.

I have one egg who has made a hole in is shell, I can see it’s beak and he is chirping away. It was like this for 2 days so I thought I should give it a hand. I unzipped (?) it, meaning took parts of the shell off right around the egg so that all it has to do it break the membrane.
I have it back in the incubator wrapped in a warm wash cloth only on the exposed membrane and it’s beak hole is still exposed so it can breathe. Photos linked.

Any tips and advice on what to do next is much appreciated. From my understanding my next move will have to be to break the membrane, if so how long should I wait to give him a chance to do it himself. He’s trying to push on the shell but not quite working.

Thank you so much
Kate

 

[chuckachucka]

Hi what happened with the egg? I hope the little guy made it.

 

[Kaidorke]

Hi what happened with the egg? I hope the little guy made it.

well i decided i was going to help him out of the shell, it had stuck to him and then started to dry and turn yellow/brown. He just came out and i've popped him back in the hatcher, hes chirping but laying down on his tummy only moving his legs every so often - i assume he is very exhausted. it was either i help him out or he dies of exhaustion really.

 

[chuckachucka]

Oh thank goodness. I was going to say you have to get him out of there. You could try dipping his beak in a little sugar water or some electrolytes solution if he seems very weak but it is normal for chicks to just flop about for the first day after hatch. Do you have any more chicks hatching?

 

[Kaidorke]

Oh thank goodness. I was going to say you have to get him out of there. You could try dipping his beak in a little sugar water or some electrolytes solution if he seems very weak but it is normal for chicks to just flop about for the first day after hatch. Do you have any more chicks hatching?

Ok goodie, I wanted to get him out of there earlier but i had in the back of my mind the saying not to help even though you really want to!
Thank you, I just left home to go pick it to dinner so I’ll do that when I get home! I guess we’ll know more with time, fingers crossed he goes well Before I did leave it looked like he was trying to move a bit more but hasn’t really opened his eyes.
I tried to post that an hour or two ago but it didnt send.
I am home now, gave it about 5mls of a cup of warm water with a tablespoon of white caster sugar. what he got down i am not sure, it seemed to bubble in his mouth like he wasnt getting it down but maybe 2mls got in him because he did spark up and roll around the hatcher and try to stand up which is great and he even open his eyes!
But when feeding him the water him he seemed a bit disorientated, didnt know how to hold his head - probably exhaustion.
i guess the ball is in his court now, hes on his own. Time will tell, i just have to figure out how much time to give him incase i need to cull. He also does seem to have a curled foot.

 

[chickens really]

Don't give it anything. Leave it to absorb its yolk and find its feet.

 

[Kaidorke]

Don't give it anything. Leave it to absorb its yolk and find its feet.

Ok cool I saw you replied to my other post.
I haven’t given it anything else. It has turned around really well and is weight bearing do you think another 24hrs before I give it food and water? It’ll be 3 days since it pipped in 24hrs. I’ll put it back in the brooder when ready to feed and steady on his feet, I’ll give it a rinse tomorrow morning also as he has a lot of gunk and membrane still on him in patches but other than that hes half fluffed up!

 

[chickens really]

Ok cool I saw you replied to my other post.
I haven’t given it anything else. It has turned around really well and is weight bearing do you think another 24hrs before I give it food and water? It’ll be 3 days since it pipped in 24hrs. I’ll put it back in the brooder when ready to feed and steady on his feet, I’ll give it a rinse tomorrow morning also as he has a lot of gunk and membrane still on him in patches but other than that hes half fluffed up!

Yes..It will be fine. No need to rinse it either. It will prune all that off once it gets moving around..

 

[Kaidorke]

Ok sweet, I read on here somewhere to rinse It but all I well then.
Thank you, this forum is great! I am pretty much on my own, did agriculture studies almost 2 years ago and I’m a nurse now which probably helped a little.
Cheers