Do I help? Very white membrane on pipped egg

[SpeckledPullet]

I have had issues keeping my humidity high in my incubator during lockdown. The humidity will get up to 70-75%, but overnight while I sleep it drops down to 30% or so.

Anyhow, my first egg to pip has a VERY white membrane under the shell and from what I have read, this is bad. It means the membrane has dried out. So, at what point do I step in and help? It is day 22 and the egg has only had a pip since this morning. Should I wait until tomorrow morning and if there is no progress, try and help moisten the membrane?

Any help would be great!

 

[Dane Chick]

I have the same issues with maintaining humidity in my incubator, and often encounter the tough white membrane situation. I will tell you what i have done and what my experience is, but i would hate to steer you wrong as i am not a totally experienced "hatcher" (only 4 hatches under my belt - but one had 22 out of 22 live chicks! - a few of them helped). In fact i just had to help a chick three days ago out of a two egg hatch - and took pics if that would help. Anyway, after stressing and reading everything i could find on helping chicks, this is the approach i take when that touch membrane appears.

First - you need to give the chick 24 hours between pip and helping. I know it is a stressful time, and you are excited, but the little one is working hard inside that shell to prepare itself for birth, so let nature take its course. If nothing seems to be happening after that amount of time, i pick a bit of shell away from the pip, CAREFULLY, just chipping tiny pieces off. In my exp if the membrane is dried out and the chick is ready, then there are no fragile blood veins to contend with, sometimes there is even an air gap between the membrane and shell. At ANY sign of blood, or a wet vein in the membrane, immediately stop and wait for those veins to dry out! On the dried membrane eggs i seem to be able to chip shell off with no problem, and i go about a quarter of an inch (not opening the membrane, JUST removing the shell). You can easily see at that point if the membrane is indeed the problem. I then use a small BLUNT pointy object (i use a small Star awars toy gun - lol) to rip open minuscule bits of the membrane. At that point you will see the chick inside opening and closing its beak, and often it will chirp at you. After opening a quarter inch i know it is getting air, so i leave it a half hour and see what it can do on its own. If no progression then i chip off more shell and do the same with the membrane. Remember if there is ANY blood then stop - the membrane is NOT ready to be opened. i follow this method until the egg has been unzipped with my help almost half way around. Then I leave the chick to do the rest itself, which can often times be a couple hours. Do not rush the chick - even though you are excited. The baby needs time to dry out inside the shell so it does not pull its insides out when it detaches from the bottom of the shell. I have found the chick will pop off the top of the shell and rest a while before separating from the bottom of the shell in circumstances where it has been helped. I have been lucky, and every chick i have helped has survived with out problems, although i am sure there are plenty of posters that will have an entirely different perspective and disagree with me strongly.

If you would like to see pics of this process, and can post your email, i will send them to you. You can also skype me at intense1117 and i can answer questions. Good luck with your hatch! It is a exciting and stressful time. I have clocked countless hours staring into the bator, and i have also worked on the computer in bed, with a struggling new chick wrapped in a washcloth tucked inside my tank top to keep it warm, lol. My family thinks i am nuts. I also send out birth announcements to my friends when i hatch new babies. My current newbies are fluffy and spot - white leghorn and hooudan mix.

keep the faith!!!

 

[PandoraTaylor]

I agree with Intense, I have helped chicks hatch, so far great results. However they have to do some on their own...

 

[momreda]

Quote:
I know I am not the OP but was wondering if you could please e-mail me the pictures. My babies are due tomorrow and we have had big issues during lockdown. Right now the hatch doesn't look promising but I love to be able to help in a few days if necessary. You click on the e-mail link under my name.

Thanks

 

[SpeckledPullet]

Thanks Intense! I will wait until tomorrow morning and then I will help the way you suggested. I had one baby hatch with no issues. That one was out within 4 hours and caused me heart failure by trying to go into the water

However, my other pip has had no more progression. I can hear the baby chirping inside, but I think the membrane is too tough. I ill keep you updated on how it goes. Please cross your fingers that he/she is out by morning and I do not have to help.

I will post pics of the one hatched baby asap. It i a BLRW.

 

[SpeckledPullet]

Okay, here is the one bothering me. The first pic is how it looked when it first pipped and there has been no change in 8 hours, even though I hear the baby chirping and see it moving.

I had to reach my hand in my "egg turner flap" (I did not open the lid) and grap the chick that hatched because it was trying to drown itself. I picked off the chip from the second pip while my hand was inside. That is when I noticed the white membrane and really started to worry.

 

[Dane Chick]

Heart Failure, lol

BEEN THERE! People can't imagine how emotionally up-heaving hatching can be unless you experience it, right? During my last hatch of 22, i was up for 48 hours just watching and worrying. I developed 'bator face' from resting my chin on the styrofoam during the dark pre-dawn hours. You are at the hardest point, where you can hear them chirping in the shell but they just won't come out.

And to have another egg hatch so quickly makes it harder, as it is difficult not to use it as a barometer of the rate they should all hatch. My experience indicates that they each comes in its own time. During the '22 hatch' we had the first egg pip and then 10 hours later another pipped. 24 hours later the first hatched and the second was partially unzipped, and the rest had no signs of hatching at all. We went to lunch and returned home three hours later to find eight fluffy butts hopping in the bator. hahaha. I said "a watched pot never boils"! The rest came at varying rates over a day and a half period. My last hatch was the same, the first egg pipped and waited 24 hours, as it was a chick i was very invested in - my hopes were up and i was worried. After 24 hours it unzipped a quarter inch and then sat 5 hours. I took my Dane for a walk and came back 20 minutes later to find it fully hatched and scooting around the bator. They will always surprise you - and that makes it so addictive!!! I look forward to hearing the great news on the little ones! I am sure it will all work out wonderfully. Hatching is seeing the miracle of life unfold and it is awesome! I think BYC needs a place where you can go to share the "hatching hours", lol. Like a hospital waiting room for fluffybutt addicts. I think that is why the group hatch threads are so popular.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
That looks perfectly normal. That little bit is going to look white, but that does not mean the membrane under the shell is too dry. It can take well over 24 hours from the time a chick pips until it is hatched.

 

[lemurchaser]

Yep, that's completely normal. There are 2 layers of membranes, and that is the outer membrane. It should be white, dry, and tough. The inner membrane should be more see through, but can normally have dry white areas and wet clear areas. You're fine, just wait it out.