eggtopsy nightmares Its still ALIVE HELP!!

[crazy chook]

So my clutch of eggs hatched from the incubator 2 days ago and there are still 4 eggs left....all others have hatched. the 4 eggs showed promise when i candled them on day 18 and they went into lockdown. today is day 24 and i wondered whet went wrong with them? So decided to eggtopsy one of them to see if I could tell at what stage they died. I could not hear anything in them nor could i see any movement when candling. so i started carefully tapping a hole in the top where the air sack is, I pulled away the shell and the chick looked shrink wrapped.

THEN I SAW IT.............MOVEMENT........It is still alive, what do I do??

I put it back in the incubator with a piece of paper towel over it. should i leave it or take it out of its shell???? HELP PLEASE

 

[justbugged]

You could try and help it out of the shell, but I would pop it into the freezer. The chances that it will be okay aren't very good. I am really sorry it sounds like it is really gross.

 

[kathyinmo]

Had it pipped internally (or externally)?

 

[Oven Ready]

Difficult call - If the inner membrane isn't broken I'd leave it and see, if the inner membrane is broken then I'd make sure it's beak is clear of any obstructions (to breathing) and then leave it and see.

Chances are it's not going to make it so expect the worst, but if you give it the chance you might get a nice surprise.

Not all chicks are meant to be, don't feel bad about it, be happy with the ones you've got.

 

[crazy chook]

No it has not pipped at all.

 

[crazy chook]

I think i will just leave them all in there for another few days..

 

[crazy chook]

Would it have been able to pip internally or externally by itself anyway?

Do I just leave the remaining eggs?

 

[Oven Ready]

Well that's all part of the problem.
Would the little guys have pipped themselves..... maybe. Maybe they would just have given up on life still in the shell without pipping at all.

If you hadn't eggtopsied and just thrown them away, you'd never have known and you'd sleep easy at night, but now you've opened some sort of Pandoras Box and all the guilt and doubt has poured out on to you.

Eggtopsies are a great idea, it should help you know better what went wrong and how to remedy it the next time, BUT, you need to be prepared for what you find. Ignorance sometimes is truly bliss.

You've only opened one shell right? The other three are untouched, if the other three all hatch and the opened one doesn't make it then by all means, beat yourself up for being too curious too quickly. If the other three don't make it and the opened one does, pat yourself on the back for being curious enough to check.
If no-one makes it then that's just the way it would've been if you hadn't intervened anyways.

I'd leave them another two days to be sure, then if you choose to eggtopsy, be prepared.
It's so much easier using hens, they can take the blame for all failures and they don't seem to mind.

 

[crazy chook]

Thank you, I have only opened one egg and I know i should have waited longer. I was being impatient because I have other eggs waiting to go into the incubator.

I would love for one of my hens to go broody, I have a silkie and a pekin and 20 odd others. Its still a little cold here though.

I will update again in the morning, I cant see with absolute certainty where the little beak is and i don't want to nick any veins so will just let it be.

 

[crazy chook]

These are the other chicks from this hatch........