Halloween ~ Hatch Day!

[hatchaholic]

Kelly - That is sooo cute! OMG, I'd be scared to touch the itty-bitty. I'll have to show this to my girls in the am.

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Quote:
Ok, so if you do decide to help out on a pip that has gone say 24 hours & then nothing more, then do you start carefully breaking the pip area? What would you use to get it going?

I did help one that mama was sitting on only I could see her little face & she was breathing just fine but she just couldn't get out.

With a tiny pip, what do you use? I hope the pip gets bigger!

PBJ....that is great about your daughter!

 

[KellyHM]

I usually just use my finger nail to pick off little bits of shell all the way around, leaving the membrane intact. Then I use a cotton ball to put water on the membrane so it doesn't dry out and stick it back in the bator w/ a wet towel around it (not covering the end where it's hatching).

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Kelly that is such a cool pic with your BQ & little peep!

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Quote:
So the moisture goes thru the shell & helps soften the membrane too so the chick can then get out?

 

[hatchaholic]

CK - I'm sure there is someone that can give you much better advice than me. I think I just had some really good beginners luck with mine. I had no clue what I was doing...But, if you read the sticky post under Incubating & Hatching, I think that will give you a good starting point.

I couldn't even find any blunt tweezers. All I had was a bobby pin. I used that and broke off small pieces of the shell at a time. Then I also used a damp paper towel to soak the membranes as I went. And, yes, I started at the pip. Then went around like they do when they zip.

With the first one, I did a little at a time, then put back in the hatcher, then did some more until it could work towards getting out. With the second one, I didn't have time. It was in more of a dire need.

But, I would wait until you have no more pips in the hatcher. If you open it too much, you risk damaging the other, possibly more healthy, chicks. I waited until the last pipped egg hatched, then worked on the struggling ones. I still have 5 in the hatcher that never pipped.

Good luck. It's not as hard as you think...just remember to breathe. I think I held my breath the whole time. LOL!

Keep us posted.

 

[KellyHM]

You put the water on the membrane after you've chipped away at the egg. That way it softens it and the chickie can still break through it.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Just make sure you don't cover the hole that is pipped with the washcloth, or the chick could drown. I use a small pair of manicure scissors, as the tweezers are too big, and break it all to heck. If it starts to bleed, wrap it up and put it back in the bator. You can also use q-tips to wet the membrane, being careful not to get water in the pip hole.

The sticky at the top of the page does have a really good post on step-by-step how to do it. Good luck. I have helped out a few in my time, and only one has died. That was a day later, and if I would have left it alone it probably wouldn't have hatched naturally.

 

[Fudgie]

Look at how many have hatched, 8 fluffy butts, wet ones, not quite fluffy butts, 1 pip and lost of no pips but they are rocking the joint. The other fluffy butts are very encouraging peeping and trying to get the others to come out out to the party! What an eggciting night.

 

[Jamie821]

I finally got up was up all night working on my one that had gook coming out of rear. I ended up finding out it was a weird umbilicol cord. It was bleeding bad so I tied it off with string and held a compress on it half the night and today she is doing really good. She is eating and drinking so do have more hope for her then I did. My last hatch was at 11:30 pm that made 17 of eighteen that are now peeping sleeping and pooping, One egg had not hatched so candled it chick was dead. Opened the egg and It was fully formed but never pipped the membrane. So 17 babies. Congrats on all I slept through most of it maybe on my hatch nov 7th I wont fall asleep in the middle of it. Yall really had some hatching going on while i was snoozing. Happy birthday to all our fuzzy butts.