External pip, membrane still intact

[rosemi78]

Is that normal & how long can a chick be okay like that...?

 

[tec27]

it's fine.

 

[sumi]

They can stay like that for hours before they start zipping the shell open. They pip through the shell so they can breathe and get used to breathing fresh air, then they will take a lengthy break, breather if you must, while they absorb the yolk sac and the blood in the membranes in the egg that supplied them with oxygen up 'till now. This whole process can take up to 24 hours or more, or be much quicker. Just keep the humidity in the incubator high, so the membranes don't dry and trap the chicks in the shell. Good luck with the hatch!

 

[rosemi78]

Thanks, guys. 2 out of 32 hatched last night, about 20 hours early. They were kind enough to time it so I would only get 2hrs of sleep before I had to be up this morning, lol. The one I was most concerned about did finally pip through the membrane. Hopefully when I get home later there will be more little chickies. There are over 15 with external pips, getting pushed around by their early bird sisters. <3

 

[JACKO]

Hi Jacko here, has anyone helped the chick to hatch by easing the shell away when the chick seems to be strugelling to get out, I have, when the hatch time has run over and the float test is positive I have very gentily cracked the shell at the top of the egg to expose the chick and removed some of the membrane
The chick is very much alive but not strong enough to break out, I return the chick to the incubator and let it break out on its own otherwise it would have died in the shell, if anyone else has done this please let me know, regards Jacko

 

[sumi]

Thanks, guys. 2 out of 32 hatched last night, about 20 hours early. They were kind enough to time it so I would only get 2hrs of sleep before I had to be up this morning, lol. The one I was most concerned about did finally pip through the membrane. Hopefully when I get home later there will be more little chickies. There are over 15 with external pips, getting pushed around by their early bird sisters. <3

Congrats and good luck with the rest of them! They do have the worst timing don't they? Mine always seem to wait until it's evening!

 

[sumi]

Hi Jacko here, has anyone helped the chick to hatch by easing the shell away when the chick seems to be strugelling to get out, I have, when the hatch time has run over and the float test is positive I have very gentily cracked the shell at the top of the egg to expose the chick and removed some of the membrane
The chick is very much alive but not strong enough to break out, I return the chick to the incubator and let it break out on its own otherwise it would have died in the shell, if anyone else has done this please let me know, regards Jacko

I've helped quite a few chicks hatch. It's a fairly straightforward process, but it's not quite as simple as breaking open the shell and removing the membrane. If the chick is not ready to come out yet you can kill it. The trick is to know when to assist and what to look for when assisting. A friend of mine here put together a fantastic article on assisted hatches and how to do it. Have a look:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[JACKO]

,thanks moderator, what a very informative article that is,i will keep that in my files for reference, Jacko

 

[LauraNJ]

Hi Jacko here, has anyone helped the chick to hatch by easing the shell away when the chick seems to be strugelling to get out, I have, when the hatch time has run over and the float test is positive I have very gentily cracked the shell at the top of the egg to expose the chick and removed some of the membrane
The chick is very much alive but not strong enough to break out, I return the chick to the incubator and let it break out on its own otherwise it would have died in the shell, if anyone else has done this please let me know, regards Jacko

We have, but they were large parrot babies. They sometimes needed help. We used tweezers to gently remove a little piece of shell, sometiimes that was enough, other times we had to remove the majority of the top of the egg for them. If we had to help clear the membrane away we did it extremely gently (these were $1800 plus per baby) and used a damp papertowel to clear away the membrane from their beak and head. Since parrots get handfed every hour, if they were weak, we would use an eye dropper to try to get them to take in some fluid so they wouldn't dehydrate.

It is a delicate balance, you don't want to help if it is too soon but if you wait to long you have a dead chick. After enough hatches you learn when the chirps and noises have become desperate and weak and you need to step in and help. It sounds like you did good with the one you helped, that you helped when it was needed and saved the chick and that is what counts.