fertilized egg day 23 under broody hen

[kbgriffiths]

I have a couple eggs under my silkie 1 for sure was developing during candling. I know they sometimes can hatch at day 23, but does anyone know a way (via candling??) to check to see if the chick is alive before I dispose of it tomorrow? I know that it probably wont be a strong or healthy chick if it doesn't hatch today, but is there anything I can do to either help it or confirm/deny its still alive? Any help appreciated.

 

[kefiren]

Are there any peeps? Stand close and listen several times through the day.

My broody hatch happend "late-ish". I made the mistake of lifting her too soon to see what was up because I smelled a smell. There was a rotten egg, and I got that out, but I payed for it with a few that shrink wrapped. I did get 5 good babies. It is hard to wait, but I learned to be "hands-off" during the last days until you are sure there is no hope.

 

[suzeqf]

Have you tried peeping at the egg or making a scrathing noise sometimes they respond mine never did or you can candle with a very high power light and watch for several minutes for movement and if nothing then it's pretty certain that the chick didn't make it. I did this on day 25 after I got no response I pipped a teeny hole in the egg leaving the membrane intacted just in case and listened still nothing so i went a it further and once i had a small part of the shell off I knew because there was to much egg and not enough chick so i opened it up slowly and the chick looked like it has stopped growing around 12-15 days it had feathers but wasn't fully feathered and was very small for the type of chick it was supposed to be. I had one hatch out of 10 most were scrambled but it was the first eggs of young hens and they were all a bit curious and my first hen wouldn't defend the nest and it got tossed a few times until the 3rd hen to take it over got serious and defended it

 

[kbgriffiths]

kefiren - what do you mean shrink wrapped?

 

[kefiren]

shrink-wrapped is a term I've found used here. it is when the humidity isn't enough to keep the emerging chick moist and they get stuck... Also, I think I upset the whole "applecart" and emerging chicks might have actually gotten both squished and stuck. "lock-down" is a term that people with incubators use, and the term applies to broodies too, as I found out. It means we shouldn't interupt this critical stage for almost anything!

 

[HetaChick]

Also I'd NEVER just toss an egg, if it was forming before. If you decide to toss them or pip the shell yourself, make a small hole on the end where the air pocket is. You can see if its alive or not and NOT kill it if it is that way. If it's not already shrink wrapped (where the membrane dries on the chick and it can't get out) it will after that so keep the membrane moist if it is with water.

People will probably get mad at me for talking about helping the babies out but when it's my birds I will do whatever it takes to make sure my babies live. You just need to be careful. And never toss a formed egg w/o checking with a light and if no movement, a hole in the shell over the air pocket. If it has broken through eternally, not hatched, and absorbed all of the blood it will suffocate if it does not hatch. When I first hatched eggs i had this happen a few times with my LG forced air incubator (never again, lg….) I just hatched with a broody and some of my chicks got shrink wrapped when mom was preoccupied with the other seven already hatched chicks. I helped 5 and ALL are well and alive but I doubt they would have lived if i didn't step in. They did break the shell on their own though.

 

[kbgriffiths]

Hetachick - thanks for the info. That was what I was asking - basically can I try and help it along and at what point? I don't want to kill the chick but I also don't want to wait too long and it already be dead.

 

[HetaChick]

Well opening an air hole won't kill it (in the spot where the air sac is) and you can see whether or not its alive and whether its shrink wrapped or not. At day 23 they SHOULD have their yoke absorbed so you should have to worry about that. If the birds are alive and their membrane is dry, moisten it and look for red blood veins. If you see some… leave it alone! It needs to absorb them. If you do NOT see any, you can chip away pieces of shell. If you come across one later stop, if you rupture it they will bleed. If you damage a bunch badly they'll hemorrhage and die if you don't stop the bleeding. My hen stepped on an egg and caused it to hemorrhage so I opened the shell fast got the bird out and applied pressure to where the veins fed the chick through the umbilical area and stopped the bleeding. The bird is healthy and fine and you can't distinguish it from the others at all. It had a rough start though and I left it in my incubator so it didn't get trampled and could regain strength.

Do you have an incubator? When my hen had issues I moved my eggs into the incubator once i got it up to temp and humidity. I could monitor them better that way.

I know some hatch on day 22 and 23, but if you aren't hearing cheeps and there aren't any holes in the shell you should make one and see. It may be dead or clinging on to life. At this point, I would open the shell above the air pocket if they haven't broken the shell yet.

 

[Teegan92]

Well opening an air hole won't kill it (in the spot where the air sac is) and you can see whether or not its alive and whether its shrink wrapped or not. At day 23 they SHOULD have their yoke absorbed so you should have to worry about that. If the birds are alive and their membrane is dry, moisten it and look for red blood veins. If you see some… leave it alone! It needs to absorb them. If you do NOT see any, you can chip away pieces of shell. If you come across one later stop, if you rupture it they will bleed. If you damage a bunch badly they'll hemorrhage and die if you don't stop the bleeding. My hen stepped on an egg and caused it to hemorrhage so I opened the shell fast got the bird out and applied pressure to where the veins fed the chick through the umbilical area and stopped the bleeding. The bird is healthy and fine and you can't distinguish it from the others at all. It had a rough start though and I left it in my incubator so it didn't get trampled and could regain strength.

Do you have an incubator? When my hen had issues I moved my eggs into the incubator once i got it up to temp and humidity. I could monitor them better that way.

I know some hatch on day 22 and 23, but if you aren't hearing cheeps and there aren't any holes in the shell you should make one and see. It may be dead or clinging on to life. At this point, I would open the shell above the air pocket if they haven't broken the shell yet.

HetaChick, I've got a broody sitting on 4 eggs. one got laid by her sister days after the first batch so its still little and responds, but the other three are big and ready to hatch any minute. i cant tell if theyre ready or not but i can hear cheaping so should i poke a hole in the egg to get the ball rolling for them or just sit on my hands and wait it out? theyre silkie bantams

 

[hopei girl]

Well I got 5 baby chicks that are looking great one that hatched and it's stomach was on the out side it stopped breathing after it was out .. Two eggs exsploded gross .. One a dud .. She still has two eggs in her nest that one maybe a dud and the other looks like it stopped growing at 16 17 weeks