HALLOWEEN HATCH!!! Anyone

[k2chickens]

CONGRATS!!! to everyone on their new babies!!! i will have some pics of mine to share here soon.

100 pages!

 

[Luvmybob]

What are the chances of a healthy chick with the shell open but the rest is still intact? The fat end of the shell is open and the chick is still moving and breathing...

How long should I wait to see the hatching of the rest of the eggs? It's day 23 but a couple are still alive...

Thanks--

 

[suburbanminifarm]

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Oh my gosh I am so sorry for you! I am keeping fingers crossed for the one in the shell that is still alive

 

[suburbanminifarm]

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Keep up hope...if these were incubated naturally by a hen especially...anyone know if she should put a bit of tape over the hole? Or just leave alone at this late stage?

 

[neferset]

I would leave it open since it's this late. In the incubator, with the shell open on the entire air cell and the membrane pulled back, a "helped" chick will usually come out in about 12 hours.

 

[Luvmybob]

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Thank you all!!!

The chick is still in the membrane/sack and it's intact with the hole on top...so I didn't puncture the sack or anything is that ok??

 

[neferset]

If the membrane is white, dry and tough, then the chick might have problems hatching without assistance. When they hatch by themselves, they usually break the membrane as they zip the shell. How big is the hole? Is it near the beak? Can you see inside to tell what condition the membrane is in?

 

[Luvmybob]

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It is white and dry I was afraid to touch it to see how tough it is though?? But it doesn't look flimsy. It's near the beak...the hole is big enough to see everything. What should I do??

 

[Suechick]

Luvmybob - I'll say a prayer for the unhatched chick. Hoping for the best.

I'm gonna go try to sex my chicks. I just watched youtube videos about sexing with by the vent, looks difficult. Anyone here every try it?

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[neferset]

Ok, I can tell you what I would do but I can't make any guarantees about it. I've had healthy strong chicks hatched this way and I've also had others who were too young/weak to survive. If you were hatching on Halloween, you're in day 22, right? If so, unless the egg was set later (which sometimes happens to broodies in situations where there are other hens), then the chick should be pretty much ready to go.

I'm guessing you don't have an incubator, so if you could set up a small box with a heater or heat lamp (think mini brooder), that will probably work. Carefully chip the shell away at the top/air cell until you are level with the beak. You can do this with a pair of tweezers.

If this is as far along as I think, you should not be able to see working veins in the membrane. Take the tweezers and being extremely careful, tear the membrane back from around the beak, going upward to the top of the air cell. If there is ANY bleeding, stop immediately, put him in an egg carton open end up in the mini brooder, and try later. If there is no bleeding, you should be safe to very slowly remove the membrane from the open top. You have to go slowly because the membrane may be stuck to the chick's body.

Let the chick rest for a while (a couple of hours) in an egg carton, open end up in the mini brooder. After a few hours, try chipping a little more shell away on the side where the chick's head is resting. If you can tear the membrane without bleeding, I would do so just until you can see the foot.

Let the chick rest for a while in the carton like you did above. In an hour or two, you should be able to help the little one pick his head up if he hasn't. After you've done that, just leave him in the warm. When he's ready, he will climb out of the egg, just like he'd zipped it himself.