Hands on hatching and help

[AngeJD]

The two that made it

 

[AngeJD]

Looks like one mallard and one magpie, just like mom and dad.

 

[Abundantly Blessed]

To remove this or to leave it??? This Gosling has been trying to hatch for almost 48 hours. It missed the air cell and came out the side. At 36 hours I chipped away at the air cell portion of the egg only. I have coated the thin film with coconut oil. It seems to have a few red like lines left.... but it also had a small bleed when I worked my way back to the aircell. Can this Gosling break through this or is it too rubbery and I need to assist? I just dont want to open it and have it be too early. Thanks for your input. Oh, and today is day 30 of incubation .

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

48 hours from pip to hatch isn't unusual for geese, but the circumstances you described with missing the air cell would cause me some concern - the gosling may now be more worn out than would normally be expected and may need help.

I'm a "judicious assister". With an egg like this, I'd be slowly and incrementally trying to push the membrane away from the gosling's head...but not until the active blood vessels dry up. Since you saw an active bleed, I'd leave the gosling to continue absorbing its yolk and for the blood vessels to recede and check again in a few hours. Do keep the membrane moist with oil (it will need to be re-oiled periodically as it becomes very tough when dry) and away from the bill so it can breathe easily.

Your concerns about the yolk absorption are reasonable, so (assuming that you continue to incrementally assist) try to only remove small bits of the shell as you progress, and leave the gosling in the bottom (half, at least) of its shell. If it hatches too soon and yolk isn't fully absorbed, you can put it in a cup in the incubator to finish the absorption, but it's obviously better if the job is done before it fully emerges from the shell.

Best of luck!!

 

[Pullety]

Hi everyone,

I’ve read three assisted hatching articles but not sure what to do here about an egg with it’s air cell on the side. It’s wasn’t shipped. Today is day 21.5. All the other eggs are out or close to it. I candled and there was no movement and no internal pip. I put a “safety hole” in the air cell just in case. Should I assume it’s dead? If not, can I do anything to help it?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: It had already died

 

[salemacresohio]

Good morning, ladies! I don’t know if I’m posting at the right spot. I need some help!

I have a single Mystic Maran/Welsummer or Polish mix egg that is on day 25. I’ve kept the temps at 99-101 the entire time, humidity I kept in 50’s for half the time until I read more about dry hatching specifically for Marans, and I immediately switched to upper 30’s low 40’s and I was able to lose 9% of the overall weight of the chick by LD on day 18. I also read that Marans can delay hatch until day 22/23 so I wasn’t too worried. Well, a couple days into lockdown I realized that my incubator has been dipping to 96-99 maybe the entire incubation process. The temp is faulty on my friend’s farm innovations incubator. She let me borrow it and I thought it was strange that she was only getting like 16/24 easter egger hatch rate from her own eggs! And now I think I know why!
All that to say, this little guy pipped internally yesterday morning (day 24) and I was just kind of all around nervous because of finding out my mistake. And wondered if it would delay the hatch longer. I put a safety hole which ended up right next to the beak, and he’s helped peck a bit away from that hole but not very vigorously. So, I picked a couple of loose pieces of the shell off so I could see his beak and observe the beak movement as he pecks, and try to get an idea of the positioning of his body. He is definitely still making eating motions from what I can tell. But sounding a little more frantic when I pick him up. Like he wants to tell me something. I’m gonna give him some more time but this morning I don’t see the veining I did last night. But he hasn’t tried to turn at all. Does that only happen once they start to zip? Is he just waiting to absorb the yolk? And does that give them a burst of energy to get out? He’s not rocking in his shell or seeming very energetic to get out. But vocally a little more energetic. Just moves head and beak back in forth like eating but not like he can get out. I guess I’m worried that because of the incubation trouble that he’s not strong enough to break out.

I am perfectly comfortable with helping but I don’t want to start too soon and nor wait too late. I read your article on detailed assists. I just wondered what steps you would take at this point. Internal pip was around 9-10am yesterday day 24, it was around 3-4pm when I made an air hole and around 7:30pm last night when I helped peeled a few pieces it had pecked against away to see it’s beak. I’ll show you what he’s accomplished so far, not much through the night. When I peaked in last night to view the beak, I could see some veins on it far back in the shell last night so from your post that means it’s still absorbing the yolk. It’s 9:30a est on day 25, obviously but fits with what I know now about temps for it to delay a bit. How would you handle this? Should I give him all day to try to start zipping? I’m afraid he’s starting to look shrunken a little? Maybe you can tell better than me. Should I go ahead and put coconut oil in there? Any direction or red flags to look for would be greatly appreciated. (I have 6 more Marans due to hatch in 3 days, and 10 welsh Harlequin in 4 days.) This one is my very first and only one at the moment and I’m feeling like a basket case!

ps. I had read about sanding down Marans eggs so that you can candle better, but also making it thinner for these chicks to break. I wait until lockdown to reduce risk of infection but we will see. You’ll see in photos.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Hi everyone,

I’ve read three assisted hatching articles but not sure what to do here about an egg with it’s air cell on the side. It’s wasn’t shipped. Today is day 21.5. All the other eggs are out or close to it. I candled and there was no movement and no internal pip. I put a “safety hole” in the air cell just in case. Should I assume it’s dead? If not, can I do anything to help it?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: It had already died

Sorry to hear that it didn't make it.

With eggs that have air cells in the wrong place, I expect to need to assist, too. Sadly, it seems that it wasn't meant, for some reason, to make it to the finish line.

 

[Pullety]

Thanks. Yeah... I felt badly I hadn’t tried to help sooner because it was perfectly formed and blood vessels dried up. But who knows what would have happened. I would have had to dig quite a bit to get its head out and could have done damage that way. Luckily the other chick I had with the side air cell hatched on its own.

 

[bethpr]

Hi all, hoping for some help.
I've got 10 eggs in my Brinsea Maxi II Eco and on day 20. No pips yet as far as I can see, eggs having been wiggling a lot. They are in lockdown now so I can't candle but I'm concerned. I know I shouldn't get involved at this stage but I've been reading about assisted hatching etc. Should I do a safety hole in or keep waiting?

 

[aart]

Hi all, hoping for some help.
I've got 10 eggs in my Brinsea Maxi II Eco and on day 20. No pips yet as far as I can see, eggs having been wiggling a lot. They are in lockdown now so I can't candle but I'm concerned. I know I shouldn't get involved at this stage but I've been reading about assisted hatching etc. Should I do a safety hole in or keep waiting?

Wait. Sit on your hand and don't borrow trouble.

Assisting is for way(relatively) past day 20....
.....and only when absolutely necessary.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/