First, I realize the risks with helping vs. not. There is no way to know whether either choice would be best beforehand (or ever). I really just want to know what you would do. The first egg pipped late on day 24 - looked the same the morning of day 25. The pip is towards the narrow end of the egg. A little more pip by afternoon, but not much air hole. In the meantime 2 more had pipped. Today, day 26, one more pipped. The second and fourth hatched this afternoon. The first pip is still in the same state. The last one I expect will hatch during the night. 4 eggs with no pips yet (not worried at all). I'm concerned about the first pipped egg. The baby is still moving inside - not much, but it never did seem to really be moving. No noise, but none of them peeped until they hatched. I helped two chicks with huge pips during my last hatch and was relatively confident that they were ready and healthy. This little one I'm just not sure. I'm a little worried about going to bed and waking up to a dead keet, but I am inclined not to help. I don't want to risk the rest of the hatch. Is there still a chance for this one? They are from several different hens so I'm not surprised about different hatch rates. As you can see, it looks like I needed to vent frustration more than anything. I think I'll just hope for the best, even though it's been around 48 hrs...
I ran into this with my hatch last month. A late chick pipped, zipped halfway, and stopped. After 24 hours I couldn't stand it anymore and took the egg out (quickly, because there were two other eggs pipped in there). I took a washcloth, folded it up, and put it in a small bowl, then poured very warm water on it, making a warm pocket for the egg to lie in. I removed bits of shell, continuing the original zip line, then removed the entire cap. The chick just lay there the whole time. It was normally developed but made no effort to kick free of the egg. I tipped it out and put it back in the incubator to dry off. The two pipped eggs hatched without incident. Well, it has survived, but it's got major leg problems: it was my "penguin" for several days, and we've had to deal with muscle contractures and splayed toes. We got the legs sorted out and it is currently wearing its second set of orthotic shoes to try to fix those toes. I have a nasty feeling that the reason this chick didn't hatch on its own is because its legs aren't right. So next time a chick fails to hatch normally, I'm going to take that into account; they say that failure to hatch is often a sign that something is quite wrong with the chick, and should be considered a red flag. I'm a real sucker for a sob story, so I've chosen to work with my little fluffhead, but that isn't necessarily the best choice for everyone. Do what your gut tells you is best.
Yes. I do think it died during the night. The last one that pipped hatched this morning. I'll likely open this one to see what happened. It almost looked like there was a little blood where it pipped, but I'm not sure without pulling it out. The last 4 are not pipped yet (though it's only day 27), but I may open it up to pull these three keets out and the dead one later on. Like I said, the ones I helped last week I felt pretty good about. There was a huge hole, plenty of air. They looked healthy. One was HUGE and couldn't turn to zip. The other was small but sticky. Both were easy with no issues.
Oh geez! It was alive! I opened the incubator to pull the hatched keets out and to see what happened to this one and it peeped like crazy at me. I assisted it and it was WAY more nerve-wracking than the chicks I assisted earlier. The shell was super hard. The membrane was white - even under the shell. The inner membrane was separated from the outer - I don't have anything to compare to other than the earlier chicks and that "seemed" like just a single membrane. Experience will shed light on this I'm sure. I zipped all the way around and tore the membrane as gently as I could. No bleeding from the membrane, but it looked as if it had either struggled and ripped it's skin a little where the pip was and the membrane dried to it, or the other keets maybe pipped a little. It was a tad pink? I think I mentioned earlier that the pip was on the narrow end of the egg. I wasn't sure how to zip that so I just aimed towards the air cell. I opened it most of the way and laid it back in the incubator before it could jump out (NOT weak at all!). I think the yolk was still attached but it was moving too much to really tell. I'm hoping it's intestines aren't out - there's an awful lot of "brown". Any hope if that's the case? Please cross your fingers for this little one. I was absolutely shocked that it was still alive this morning!
Quote:I am kind of like where you were last night, but none of mine have zipped yet. I think it has been 36 hours since my first one pipped and it was moving a little yesterday, but not much today. The others have been pipping since yesterday afternoon. 2/8 have not pipped yet, but I hear lots of tapping and peeping. I am concerned about the first little guy, because I didn't expect any pipping until today/tomorrow, and I noticed the pip when I had the incubator open. I have keep sitting on my hands and waiting, though, because opening up the incubator now would compromise the rest. I hope the little one you helped doesn't have any problems. He sounds feisty! I hope if I have to help once the others hatch, that I will be surprised with one just as feisty as yours.
