French frogs

[FridayYet]

Oz, is there a hole in the membrane at all? If not, you can make a small one so the chick can breathe.

 

[abbevilleoz]

Oz, is there a hole in the membrane at all?  If not, you can make a small one so the chick can breathe.

Yes he made a whole a few hours after he pipped.

 

[FridayYet]

Is the membrane white or is it turning tan/brown? It's good to have a cup of warm water as you assist. And yes, tear the membrane a bit as you take small sections of shell.

Here's an article you can read. Overload of info, but it has some good tips: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[abbevilleoz]

Is the membrane white or is it turning tan/brown?  It's good to have a cup of warm water as you assist.  And yes, tear the membrane a bit as you take small sections of shell.

Here's an article you can read.  Overload of info, but it has some good tips:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

I have the humidity high, 70%. The membrane is white still. We're at our son's baseball game and I've got a warm must humidifier running in Dr. Oz's (my wife) operating room. If no zipping she will start surgery when we get home.

 

[Tumbling K]

Oz, I wish you the best of luck.

 

[FridayYet]

Oz, I wish you the best of luck.

X 2. Enjoy the game. Maybe it will start zipping before you get home.

 

[WalnutHill]

I have so little patience I should not be allowed in the hatcher room for three days around the due date.

If a chick has pipped, and has been pipped for at least 18 but better 24 hours without zipping, or has started distress peeping after 16 hours, or if the membrane starts turning brown and wrinkled around the hole, or has started zipping and stopped for more than 30 minutes, I go in.

And I am not dainty about it.

I will enlarge the hole a little with tweezers, needlenose pliers, or whatever comes to hand that can nibble at the edge of the hole. Holding the egg with the air cell up and the hole facing you, chip away the shell at the left edge of the hole and pull back on the thick white membrane. If you don't see blood or blood vessels in the inner membrane, keep going. Chip just the shell around the cap. If you haven't experienced any blood and have a struggling chick, you may want to let it try to push out as that will help ensure that the yolk is absorbed and that it has "pumped up" in preparation for hatch. Or you can just pull the top off the egg and help the chick fall out. If you do this, if the yolk is not absorbed fully, at a minimum you will end up with a herniated navel and exposed yolk. That's why the waiting period is so critical. But in the case of a stalled zip, the yolk should be absorbed and the chick just stuck for one reason or another.

I "save" most of the chicks I deliver, and I cull about half the chicks I save.

 

[FridayYet]

I have so little patience I should not be allowed in the hatcher room for three days around the due date.

If a chick has pipped, and has been pipped for at least 18 but better 24 hours without zipping, or has started distress peeping after 16 hours, or if the membrane starts turning brown and wrinkled around the hole, or has started zipping and stopped for more than 30 minutes, I go in.

And I am not dainty about it.

I will enlarge the hole a little with tweezers, needlenose pliers, or whatever comes to hand that can nibble at the edge of the hole. Holding the egg with the air cell up and the hole facing you, chip away the shell at the left edge of the hole and pull back on the thick white membrane. If you don't see blood or blood vessels in the inner membrane, keep going. Chip just the shell around the cap. If you haven't experienced any blood and have a struggling chick, you may want to let it try to push out as that will help ensure that the yolk is absorbed and that it has "pumped up" in preparation for hatch. Or you can just pull the top off the egg and help the chick fall out. If you do this, if the yolk is not absorbed fully, at a minimum you will end up with a herniated navel and exposed yolk. That's why the waiting period is so critical. But in the case of a stalled zip, the yolk should be absorbed and the chick just stuck for one reason or another.

I "save" most of the chicks I deliver, and I cull about half the chicks I save.

I'm so glad you wrote that. So many people write about the "saves", but not about the consequences.

 

[Miss Ameraucana]

Is the membrane white or is it turning tan/brown?  It's good to have a cup of warm water as you assist.  And yes, tear the membrane a bit as you take small sections of shell.

This is like rocket science to me! I never ever realized how complicated the hatching process was. You guys are so great! Oz can't go wrong now

Here's an article you can read.  Overload of info, but it has some good tips:  https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

This is amazing! I didn't know anything about eggs hatching until now. I'm glad you posted this too. Da*mn, who'd a thunk it!

Oz, I wish you the best of luck.

Me too Oz

Best get to studying on that article.

I have so little patience I should not be allowed in the hatcher room for three days around the due date.

If a chick has pipped, and has been pipped for at least 18 but better 24 hours without zipping, or has started distress peeping after 16 hours, or if the membrane starts turning brown and wrinkled around the hole, or has started zipping and stopped for more than 30 minutes, I go in.

And I am not dainty about it.

I will enlarge the hole a little with tweezers, needlenose pliers, or whatever comes to hand that can nibble at the edge of the hole. Holding the egg with the air cell up and the hole facing you, chip away the shell at the left edge of the hole and pull back on the thick white membrane.  If you don't see blood or blood vessels in the inner membrane, keep going.  Chip just the shell around the cap.  If you haven't experienced any blood and have a struggling chick, you may want to let it try to push out as that will help ensure that the yolk is absorbed and that it has "pumped up" in preparation for hatch.  Or you can just pull the top off the egg and help the chick fall out.  If you do this, if the yolk is not absorbed fully, at a minimum you will end up with a herniated navel and exposed yolk.  That's why the waiting period is so critical.  But in the case of a stalled zip, the yolk should be absorbed and the chick just stuck for one reason or another.

I "save" most of the chicks I deliver, and I cull about half the chicks I save.

Walnut, I have so much to learn. Lol. Just 10 short months ago the only thing I knew about chicken was that it tastes good! So this stuff really kinda blows my mind!

 

[WalnutHill]

If you are new to chickens, I strongly recommend this learning curve for incubation and hatching:

Learn to keep adult chickens.
Learn to grow out chicks.
Get some cheap local fertile eggs and try to incubate them.
Try again and again until you can get some to hatch.
For those that don't hatch, let them not hatch. Sell those that do if you don't want to keep them.

Next season:
Get some cheap local fertile eggs and get back in practice.
Pay close attention to how long it "normally" takes from pip to zip, and how long the zip takes.
Pay attention to those that don't zip, and if they are dead in shell break them out to see what was wrong.
Fix the issues that contributed to the complications. Make notes so you don't do it wrong next time.
Repeat.
Get some better local eggs if you want a different breed or variety. Follow your best success model.
Repeat.
Study up on incubating shipped eggs. There are a lot of theories.
Get a small order of shipped eggs. Start learning all over again because shipped eggs offer a whole new set of challenges. Take notes on every single egg. Number them for ease of reference.
Incubate and candle at 7-10 days, 14-18 days, and take notes at every step on air cell stability, growth, etc.
Hatch them. Use your own experience to determine if you SHOULD help them or not.

I won't help any that are not extremely special local eggs, or eggs with brutally damaged air cells where the chick may not be able to turn and complete the zip. If it does not try to zip, I will not help it. It's sad enough to see a dead in shell with birth defects, even worse if you bring it into the world and then have to kill it.