First egg of 8 hatched, membrane(?) still stuck to chicken butt. Help!

[fantomas]

First chick hatched about 2 hours ago. This is our first time hatching anything, so maybe like a new parent, we're overly concerned about what we're seeing. It hatched at 5:30 this evening and for the past two hours, its been crawling around with a piece of the egg following it. Most importantly, what is going on? Should we be concerned or will this eventually detach? My wife says it looks like the butt isn't fully formed. Or possibly there's a prolapse. How much longer until we should be concerned?

The other issue, a few of the other eggs, but I don't think them all, have pipped, and the first hatched chick has gone around in circles, rolling all the eggs around, and pushed them against the side of the incubator. Should I open it up and move them away from the sides?

Also, here's a live view of the hatching

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Congrats on your chick! It's not unusual for the umbilicus to still be attached like that sometimes; if it's dried up, I take a sanitized pair of manicure scissors or similar instrument and carefully snip the cord so the shell is detached. It will detach by itself on occasion, but I don't like the risk of it being stepped on (and possibly pulling something out) or attracting the attention of other hatchlings. After cutting it, I put a dab of triple antibiotic (without pain reliever) on as a precaution and to aid healing.

Best wishes for a great hatch!

 

[fantomas]

Thanks! How close to the vent should I cut it?

 

[cmom]

Not too close. It should dry up and fall off.

 

[fantomas]

And should I worry about the other eggs that were rolled around?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

And should I worry about the other eggs that were rolled around?

The first hatchling will usually do that - knock the other eggs around. It looks bad, but the rolled eggs should still be ok. I have had pieces of empty eggshell from previous hatchers get stuck over external pips, and that can be a problem, so I'd just keep an eye out for that scenario. Unless the edges of the incubator pose some kind of risk, I'd leave them where they've settled.

 

[fantomas]

Third one had the same thing stuck to it's butt and egg. Second out was fine though. Is it a humidity problem? I'm going to snip the third one as well because of the other two chicks in there. I don't want them to get tangled up in it.

 

[cmom]

What is the humidity?

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

And how about temps - were they stable? Delayed absorption of the yolk could be associated with temperature issues...did they hatch early or late?

 

[NorCalChicks101]

First chick hatched about 2 hours ago. This is our first time hatching anything, so maybe like a new parent, we're overly concerned about what we're seeing. It hatched at 5:30 this evening and for the past two hours, its been crawling around with a piece of the egg following it. Most importantly, what is going on? Should we be concerned or will this eventually detach? My wife says it looks like the butt isn't fully formed. Or possibly there's a prolapse. How much longer until we should be concerned?

The other issue, a few of the other eggs, but I don't think them all, have pipped, and the first hatched chick has gone around in circles, rolling all the eggs around, and pushed them against the side of the incubator. Should I open it up and move them away from the sides?

Also, here's a live view of the hatching

Awesome cam setup! Will be watching!