*graphic pics* Chick pipped externally then died in shell

[Chickeria]

I wanted to ask you all for your opinions, thoughts and experiences.
I hatched eggs for the first time. From the 28 eggs that went into lockdown (some of them blue and green eggs I wasn't able to see anything when candling) 23 hatched.
One egg (the chick would have been the 24th) did have an external pip I discovered on the evening of day 21. On the morning of day 22 when I took out the chicks who hatched the day before I discovered there unfortunately had been no progress. When examining the egg closely I sadly discovered the chick was dead - I could see the little beak in the hole of the shell, but it was stiff when I touched it gently. I opened the egg and this is how the dead little one looked:

The yolk sac wasn't fully absorbed, so I know I could not have saved the little one because it died in the phase before being ready to hatch. I'm wondering what happened, and why this happened. There were several hatched active chicks with this egg and I know it got kicked around. I'm wondering if the chick inside the egg got liquids in the airways and suffocated because of being rolled around over and over. Or if there is another possible explanation what happened with this little baby

 

[MissE]

I wanted to ask you all for your opinions, thoughts and experiences.
I hatched eggs for the first time. From the 28 eggs that went into lockdown (some of them blue and green eggs I wasn't able to see anything when candling) 23 hatched.
One egg (the chick would have been the 24th) did have an external pip I discovered on the evening of day 21. On the morning of day 22 when I took out the chicks who hatched the day before I discovered there unfortunately had been no progress. When examining the egg closely I sadly discovered the chick was dead - I could see the little beak in the hole of the shell, but it was stiff when I touched it gently. I opened the egg and this is how the dead little one looked:
View attachment 2614860

View attachment 2614863

The yolk sac wasn't fully absorbed, so I know I could not have saved the little one because it died in the phase before being ready to hatch. I'm wondering what happened, and why this happened. There were several hatched active chicks with this egg and I know it got kicked around. I'm wondering if the chick inside the egg got liquids in the airways and suffocated because of being rolled around over and over. Or if there is another possible explanation what happened with this little baby

Some just aren't strong enough to thrive. Could have been anything, really. You had a pretty successful hatch rate. Don't think you could have done anything differently.

 

[Chickeria]

Some just aren't strong enough to thrive. Could have been anything, really. You had a pretty successful hatch rate. Don't think you could have done anything differently.

Thank you for your answer MissE. Yes I really hope it was not my fault.

 

[Tonyroo]

I learned from trail and error that if a chick pips and doesn't progress after 6 hours I have to intervene. Which involves me using a twizzer and peeling the shell and membrane off. Gently pulling the chick out and leaving it there to rest.
I did that with my recent hatch it was the last egg to pip. Made a judgement call.

Leaving the egg alone after pipping runs the risk of the chick dying or in poor health with disabilities. But that's from my experience.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Not your fault at all. Mother nature is fickle. There are things completely out of our control when it comes to hatching. Chicks have to work extremely hard to hatch, and some just don't have enough strength. Sometimes they have deformities, issues internally, etc...

Your hatch rate was excellent. 23 out of 28 is near perfect. Please don't blame yourself! This just happens sometimes.

 

[Chickeria]

I learned from trail and error that if a chick pips and doesn't progress after 6 hours I have to intervene. Which involves me using a twizzer and peeling the shell and membrane off. Gently pulling the chick out and leaving it there to rest.
I did that with my recent hatch it was the last egg to pip. Made a judgement call.

Leaving the egg alone after pipping runs the risk of the chick dying or in poor health with disabilities. But that's from my experience.

Thank you for answering Tonyroo. Do you think I could have saved the chick? Seeing the yolk sac not fully absorbed made me think a lot about this question, I assumed there would have not been a chance because the chick seemed not ready to hatch the moment it died?
I fully agree I should have checked the egg more frequently, if the chick would have had absorbed the yolk sac and would have been stuck I would presumably not have discovered it in time.

 

[Chickeria]

Not your fault at all. Mother nature is fickle. There are things completely out of our control when it comes to hatching. Chicks have to work extremely hard to hatch, and some just don't have enough strength. Sometimes they have deformities, issues internally, etc...

Your hatch rate was excellent. 23 out of 28 is near perfect. Please don't blame yourself! This just happens sometimes.

Thank you for replying and for your kind words RosemaryDuck. I felt so sorry because the little one was so close. But I understand I will never know why it happened.

 

[MissE]

Thank you for answering Tonyroo. Do you think I could have saved the chick? Seeing the yolk sac not fully absorbed made me think a lot about this question, I assumed there would have not been a chance because the chick seemed not ready to hatch the moment it died?
I fully agree I should have checked the egg more frequently, if the chick would have had absorbed the yolk sac and would have been stuck I would presumably not have discovered it in time.

I would have been worried about helping too soon. A couple of mine had externally pipped at 4:30 am and didn't hatch until around midnight. Hatching takes them a lot of work. Assisting too soon can cause more harm than good. Lockdown is lockdown. I still think there was nothing you could have done, and many people on here have made the mistake of helping when the chick wasn't ready. If the yolk wasn't absorbed, he wasn't ready.

 

[NuttinButLuv Farm]

ok so just had a chick pip and was chirping up a storm went and fed all the critters outside and came back and it was cracked open about half way but watched for a while and no movement and no chirps waited a while longer and interviened and just helped break some of the shell off the membrane was already dry but some small amounts of blood were on its bottom area. it died was so sad

 

[Chickeria]

ok so just had a chick pip and was chirping up a storm went and fed all the critters outside and came back and it was cracked open about half way but watched for a while and no movement and no chirps waited a while longer and interviened and just helped break some of the shell off the membrane was already dry but some small amounts of blood were on its bottom area. it died was so sad

I'm so sorry you lost your little one