Hi all. Just wanted to drop in and read along for a bit. I can offer today another reason to help out. And options for what can be done to save a chick in this situation. After final candling,I had marked the one that would hatch first. This was a staggered hatch, so each was individually marked for progress. Sure enough, He pipped first, but then nothing. Two other chips pipped and hatched, still nothing. Hmm. So I pulled him out and zipped the shell, not the white liner, until I found the spot where his beak was and had opened the inner layers but not the shell. Hmm again. He should be stronger, not weaker. And there was some odd wetness to the area. I put him up to warm rest and breathe but again,no progress. Finally I fished him out to fully intervene and discovered the trouble. The little idiot has kicked through and torn his unabsorbed egg sacrifice. Doing himself great harm and making him too sticky and weak to hatch. I've seen it three times before so I grabbed some string, my little surgical scissors and hot water and gauze and peeled him from the sticky mass of she'll and good, cut the cord and instead of a loop of sstring,I saw that the wound was mostly closed so I applied a small patch of tegaderm, a breathable bandage, to the area, to prevent more fluid loss. Worked like a charm. He's drying in my hand in a heating pad so I can rub him dry and stimulate him some instead of him being air dried and trampled in the incubator where others continue to hatch, and add humidity he doesn't need right now. He's becoming more active so he may survive his near death attempt at hatching. Nature really isn't perfect, and unassisted he would have died in shell,from a mistake. So yes, I think intelligent intervention has its place. Pardon the grammar and run ons but I'm doing this one handed.
