- Apr 3, 2013
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I thought I would share my story of this morning with you today.
Two days ago I began having Blue Wyandottes and Gold Laced Wyandottes hatching in my incubator. Everyone did just fine with the hatching process except for the last chick. I left it alone for 24 hours and after about 36 hours, I decided it was time to intervene. I could tell the chick was still alive because I could see it breathing and also noticed some of its down was already dried that was exposed to the air and the chick had removed a good portion of the egg, but the membrane was not giving way.
I began peeling the rest of the egg shell off, but indeed the membrance was like leather! Luckily, living on a farm, we have a large amount of medical supplies in our house including 1ml syringes we had purchased for an old dog who had developed diabetes. I grabbed a syringe and filled a cup full of hot water (warm to the touch). I left the chick in the incubator and reached my hands in under the lid to try to keep the heat and humidity in. I then took the tiny little needle and sprayed water under the membrance since it was stuck so badly to the chick's down.
Slowly, but surely, I managed to get the membrane off and also got the dried down loosened enough that the chick could move its head and legs. The chick is VERY strong, so I am hoping it will pull through. Hopefully enough heat was left in the incubator (it dropped to 95.6 degrees, but quickly rose to 98.6 after sealing the lid) that the chick will not freeze. We'll see.
This little chick could use some prayers (seems silly to ask that for a little chicken, but I am sure you all understand! LOL)! I am sitting in the living room and can hear it peeping so hopefully it will pull through. If this works, I hope this little story will help some folks by giving them ideas of how to get a dried membrane off of a chick. The most important lesson is KEEP THE HUMIDITYY HIGH so this does not happen to your chick! The humidity in my incubator dropped down to 60% at one point which is when I noticed the water had dried up. I quickly added more, but it was obviously too late for this little one. I'll keep you all posted on its progress! I hope you enjoyed this little story and maybe even gained a little something from it.
Good luck!
Two days ago I began having Blue Wyandottes and Gold Laced Wyandottes hatching in my incubator. Everyone did just fine with the hatching process except for the last chick. I left it alone for 24 hours and after about 36 hours, I decided it was time to intervene. I could tell the chick was still alive because I could see it breathing and also noticed some of its down was already dried that was exposed to the air and the chick had removed a good portion of the egg, but the membrane was not giving way.
I began peeling the rest of the egg shell off, but indeed the membrance was like leather! Luckily, living on a farm, we have a large amount of medical supplies in our house including 1ml syringes we had purchased for an old dog who had developed diabetes. I grabbed a syringe and filled a cup full of hot water (warm to the touch). I left the chick in the incubator and reached my hands in under the lid to try to keep the heat and humidity in. I then took the tiny little needle and sprayed water under the membrance since it was stuck so badly to the chick's down.
Slowly, but surely, I managed to get the membrane off and also got the dried down loosened enough that the chick could move its head and legs. The chick is VERY strong, so I am hoping it will pull through. Hopefully enough heat was left in the incubator (it dropped to 95.6 degrees, but quickly rose to 98.6 after sealing the lid) that the chick will not freeze. We'll see.
This little chick could use some prayers (seems silly to ask that for a little chicken, but I am sure you all understand! LOL)! I am sitting in the living room and can hear it peeping so hopefully it will pull through. If this works, I hope this little story will help some folks by giving them ideas of how to get a dried membrane off of a chick. The most important lesson is KEEP THE HUMIDITYY HIGH so this does not happen to your chick! The humidity in my incubator dropped down to 60% at one point which is when I noticed the water had dried up. I quickly added more, but it was obviously too late for this little one. I'll keep you all posted on its progress! I hope you enjoyed this little story and maybe even gained a little something from it.
Good luck!
