EMERGENCY! Chick

[Let There Be Light]

I had a broody hen with six eggs, one hatched on day 24, and five didn't hatch. It's day 28 now and I opened the eggs to see what was wrong or if there was by any chance any chicks alive. Well I opened one which is actually alive (moving around) but seems not to be ready to hatch! It started bleeding a little and you can see the veins so I stopped removing the shell. Is there anything I could do to save it?

 

[Let There Be Light]

This one is a little better.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sounds like she was on a staggered hatch. You can finish incubating yourself, but it's not going to survive under the hen with that much shell missing and that long between ages

 

[Let There Be Light]

Sounds like she was on a staggered hatch. You can finish incubating yourself, but it's not going to survive under the hen with that much shell missing and that long between ages

The thing is (I forgot to mention) is that I don't have an incubator yet. I have a heat lamp but that's all. One of the other chickens must have laid that egg days later in my broody's nesting box. I have already removed the egg from the broody hen, who had stopped sitting on the eggs anyway.

 

[Let There Be Light]

I keep changing out a damp cotton ball to keep the membrane wet. Is this a good idea or should I do something else?
Also, I was able to see it a little better and it's yolk sack was about the size of a blueberry... Does this somehow show how old it is?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Coconut oil is the best for the membrane to keep it moist and not too wet. You don't want it to dry out because the chick won't be able to get out when it's ready.

As for the yolk being that large, no clue. I don't have chicks hatching with yolk sacs of any size, thankfully so I wouldn't know how long that means

 

[Blue Raptor]

I had a broody hen with six eggs, one hatched on day 24, and five didn't hatch. It's day 28 now and I opened the eggs to see what was wrong or if there was by any chance any chicks alive. Well I opened one which is actually alive (moving around) but seems not to be ready to hatch! It started bleeding a little and you can see the veins so I stopped removing the shell. Is there anything I could do to save it?

I don’t know if it has much of a chance, but try your hardest for its sake! I think the warm cotton ball and oil ideas are good, what are you doing to keep it warm? Can I make the suggestion of a heat lamp (from afar)? Is that a good idea?

 

[Let There Be Light]

Coconut oil is the best for the membrane to keep it moist and not too wet. You don't want it to dry out because the chick won't be able to get out when it's ready.

As for the yolk being that large, no clue. I don't have chicks hatching with yolk sacs of any size, thankfully so I wouldn't know how long that means

Coconut oil! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you!
Maybe I should use something else as reference instead of blueberries. We eat a lot of wild blueberries from Costco so that's the size I'm referring to, not large blueberries from the grocery store, lol. I'll get a picture of some beads that I have that are close in size.

 

[Let There Be Light]

I don’t know if it has much of a chance, but try your hardest for its sake! I think the warm cotton ball and oil ideas are good, what are you doing to keep it warm? Can I make the suggestion of a heat lamp (from afar)? Is that a good idea?

I'm using one of those reptile heaters, since my broody and her other chicks are using the red heat lamp.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Coconut oil! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you!
Maybe I should use something else as reference instead of blueberries. We eat a lot of wild blueberries from Costco so that's the size I'm referring to, not large blueberries from the grocery store, lol. I'll get a picture of some beads that I have that are close in size.

No, I know what size blueberries are, but I don't know what that means for a yolk to be that size. My chicks either hatch without a yolk, die after absorbing it all the way min the egg, or don't make it to lockdown. So it could be 6 days from hatching or an hour and i can't help with that