Hands on hatching and help

[Companihen]

I need some guidance or leta say reassurance…
timeline

Day 25 (Aug 18)
- first hatch (#1)
8pm - #2 (assisted hatch)

Day 26 (Aug 19)
AM - #3 and #4
11:30am - #5
At that time anyone who was moving and didn’t external pip I made an external hole in the top of the egg
8:30pm - #6 got stuck and passed away
#7 - no issues

Day 27 (Aug 20) - Today
7:00am #8, #9 #10 assisted out (only small part zippered but just quite, no bleeding and yolk absorbed)
9:00pm #11 found hatched

I had given up on the other eggs but I just listened and I have taping/peeping coming 4 more eggs. They all had external holes made by me and no other external cracks.

I am thinking I am just gonna go for it and help…it is now just past 9pm here

Can't really give advice... just hope all the best whatever you do. I haven't assisted a hatch before. Last time I had 4 not hatch 2 had fully formed chicks in ... always look back and wonder what I could have done

 

[MrsWinterWheat]

Can't really give advice... just hope all the best whatever you do. I haven't assisted a hatch before. Last time I had 4 not hatch 2 had fully formed chicks in ... always look back and wonder what I could have done

Thanks!! Yah I don’t want to leave them if I could have helped…but I don’t want to help too soon. Such a delicate balance…

 

[lowschickens]

For a few months @RubyNala97 and I have talked about having a thread for Hands on Hatchers to come together and for help for those who want to be more involved or don't want to accept the "Never help a chick" theory. People have different methods of hatching, and that's ok. When you find something that works for you, you do it. Don't worry about what other's views are, as long as your method is working- that is what is important. This thread is meant for us hands on people. A place to come together and talk, exchange our "hands on" methods, or seek help in assisting or just to see how our methods really do work for us. We aren't a thread to debate the differences for hands on/hands off, there's a thread for that. We are strictly for people that want to experience hatching in it's entirety w/out being literally yelled at because you are doing it different or because you are being hands on. OH no you opened your incubator at hatch??? That's ok, here we understand and will help anyone who needs it regardless of wether you did something we wouldn't. One of the greatest and most knowledgeable things is candling, and you shouldn't be afraid to do it.

A little about myself: I use an old LG incubator with fan attatchement, and I have awesome hatches. My last was 100%. I prefer a low humidity incubation method, and a high hatch humidity. I am VERY hands on. I open my incubator frequently during hatch and I have NEVER lost a chick that has pipped or started zipping. I seldom have post hatch mortality and my chicks are very healthy with no leg problems. And I am more than willing to assist my chicks if I feel it is neccessary. Why am I saying this? Because these are the things that a lot of hands off hatchers will swear to you will happen if you are not hands off. I respect a hands off hatchers philospohies and that's great for them. But I hate the fact that some would condem and put down those of us that don't share their philosophy. So if you are looking for a place to share your experiences and excitment in being hands on, without the worry of being scolded or threatened you won't be helped in a time of need, feel free to jump in and inroduce yourselves. Tell us a little about your methods and share pics of your flocks and chicks.

any advice? i placed 2 silkie/cochin mix eggs under my broody hen on 11/14, there was a few times where one of my bully chickens would kick my broody hen off of the nest and she would leave for almost an hour so the eggs would be cold and i was sure they died. i left them underneath her though and they developed! on 12/5 at like 6pm which should’ve been day 21, one of the eggs internally piped. on 12/6 by 8pm no further progression and the chick wasn’t moving as much, so i made a safety hole. the chick hatched on 12/7 sometime before 2pm. however, the other egg hadn’t internally piped until 12/6 around 8pm when i checked on the other egg. i couldn’t hear this chick chirp, it wasn’t moving or anything so i got concerned but i waited. on 12/7 at like 5am it had no progression still and no movement or noise so i made a safety hole for it, and i feel like as soon as i made the hole the chick moved but wasn’t making noise like the other one. i put it back under the broody hen, and by 12/8 at 5am there was no movement, nothing…i panicked and opened the air shell like the post says and put coconut oil on the membrane and there was still blood vessels on it so i didn’t go any further, and it looked like the beak had just barely internally piped?? put it back underneath mom and waited. 12/8 now 9pm, no progression no movement no noise nothing….put coconut oil on the membrane to see the blood vessels and the blood vessels were gone, so i helped the chick by removing more of the membrane, when i did this it chirped once!! and i could see it taking breaths but no real movements. towards the head of the chicken there were still active blood vessels and it bled a small amount so i applied pressure and stopped and put it back under the momma hen. what do i do now?? i’m worried i may have shrink wrapped it or done something to kill it or something wrong. please help! attaching a picture of it as of right now (the small bleed was under my middle finger, and it stopped before i put it back under the mom hen)

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

any advice? i placed 2 silkie/cochin mix eggs under my broody hen on 11/14, there was a few times where one of my bully chickens would kick my broody hen off of the nest and she would leave for almost an hour so the eggs would be cold and i was sure they died. i left them underneath her though and they developed! on 12/5 at like 6pm which should’ve been day 21, one of the eggs internally piped. on 12/6 by 8pm no further progression and the chick wasn’t moving as much, so i made a safety hole. the chick hatched on 12/7 sometime before 2pm. however, the other egg hadn’t internally piped until 12/6 around 8pm when i checked on the other egg. i couldn’t hear this chick chirp, it wasn’t moving or anything so i got concerned but i waited. on 12/7 at like 5am it had no progression still and no movement or noise so i made a safety hole for it, and i feel like as soon as i made the hole the chick moved but wasn’t making noise like the other one. i put it back under the broody hen, and by 12/8 at 5am there was no movement, nothing…i panicked and opened the air shell like the post says and put coconut oil on the membrane and there was still blood vessels on it so i didn’t go any further, and it looked like the beak had just barely internally piped?? put it back underneath mom and waited. 12/8 now 9pm, no progression no movement no noise nothing….put coconut oil on the membrane to see the blood vessels and the blood vessels were gone, so i helped the chick by removing more of the membrane, when i did this it chirped once!! and i could see it taking breaths but no real movements. towards the head of the chicken there were still active blood vessels and it bled a small amount so i applied pressure and stopped and put it back under the momma hen. what do i do now?? i’m worried i may have shrink wrapped it or done something to kill it or something wrong. please help! attaching a picture of it as of right now (the small bleed was under my middle finger, and it stopped before i put it back under the mom hen) View attachment 4003359

I have had two like this. One died and one still lives. At this point, I would wait, unless your chicken parent spider sense starts tingling.

 

[2 chiks n a roo]

any advice? i placed 2 silkie/cochin mix eggs under my broody hen on 11/14, there was a few times where one of my bully chickens would kick my broody hen off of the nest and she would leave for almost an hour so the eggs would be cold and i was sure they died. i left them underneath her though and they developed! on 12/5 at like 6pm which should’ve been day 21, one of the eggs internally piped. on 12/6 by 8pm no further progression and the chick wasn’t moving as much, so i made a safety hole. the chick hatched on 12/7 sometime before 2pm. however, the other egg hadn’t internally piped until 12/6 around 8pm when i checked on the other egg. i couldn’t hear this chick chirp, it wasn’t moving or anything so i got concerned but i waited. on 12/7 at like 5am it had no progression still and no movement or noise so i made a safety hole for it, and i feel like as soon as i made the hole the chick moved but wasn’t making noise like the other one. i put it back under the broody hen, and by 12/8 at 5am there was no movement, nothing…i panicked and opened the air shell like the post says and put coconut oil on the membrane and there was still blood vessels on it so i didn’t go any further, and it looked like the beak had just barely internally piped?? put it back underneath mom and waited. 12/8 now 9pm, no progression no movement no noise nothing….put coconut oil on the membrane to see the blood vessels and the blood vessels were gone, so i helped the chick by removing more of the membrane, when i did this it chirped once!! and i could see it taking breaths but no real movements. towards the head of the chicken there were still active blood vessels and it bled a small amount so i applied pressure and stopped and put it back under the momma hen. what do i do now?? i’m worried i may have shrink wrapped it or done something to kill it or something wrong. please help! attaching a picture of it as of right now (the small bleed was under my middle finger, and it stopped before i put it back under the mom hen) View attachment 4003359

There's a well written thread on here about how and when to help hatch. It explains every aspect and is very good. I use the person's methods hatching my own.
Someone else might know the thread, but I'll find it later an share it

 

[turkeybirdpecky]

Is either egg shrink wrapped, sticky or stuck

or am I jumping the gun?

 

[FunClucks]

Is either egg shrink wrapped, sticky or stuckView attachment 4059487 or am I jumping the gun?

How are they now? As of when you took the pictures, no, they were not shrink wrapped or stuck, but they might be now if you didn't moisten the membrane. If you haven't already I'd add coconut oil or Neosporin (original version) to the exposed membrane to keep it soft so chicks can push through it. From position and lack of blood in membrane, looks like chicks were in the process of zipping - they put a hole, then rest, then zip, then rest, etc. Whole process can take about a day. Just let them be in the incubator and keep them moist on the membrane until they're ready to emerge, and if they're ready and healthy they'll come out fine. If they die, it's not necessarily something you've done - sometimes they have internal defects that we can't see that defeat them right round hatch time. Good luck!

 

[turkeybirdpecky]

Ok! Yes, we kept it moist. They Hatched and are roaming around. Originally we had our first chick pipe and die, I think I was just super nervous that was happening again and preventable. We have a bunch more hatching now!

 

[FunClucks]

Ok! Yes, we kept it moist. They Hatched and are roaming around. Originally we had our first chick pipe and die, I think I was just super nervous that was happening again and preventable. We have a bunch more hatching now!

Most of the time, when they die shortly before/during/after hatch, I've found internal defects or other causes are to blame. They just didn't grow right and there's not often something I personally can do about it.

If you have the interest and the stomach for it, you can look around on here there's a few articles / threads that show various birth defects and what they look like, and describe multiple ways the chicks can be malformed or pass away. Commercially, folks do autopsies on all failure to hatch chicks and document causes - I think I was reading one of those documents - there were at least 25 known common ways chicks can develop wrong that were checkboxes on the autopsy report. The document I was reading also talked about various causes that they knew could cause the malformations. I wish I could find that document. Basically, proper turning, proper maternal nutrition and health prior to lay, and keeping hatch parameters within recommended bounds are the best way to hatch healthy chicks. Those are the only things I can really affect also. Genetic abnormalities in breed stock and other causes aren't something I can do much about.

 

[turkeybirdpecky]

Most of the time, when they die shortly before/during/after hatch, I've found internal defects or other causes are to blame. They just didn't grow right and there's not often something I personally can do about it.

If you have the interest and the stomach for it, you can look around on here there's a few articles / threads that show various birth defects and what they look like, and describe multiple ways the chicks can be malformed or pass away. Commercially, folks do autopsies on all failure to hatch chicks and document causes - I think I was reading one of those documents - there were at least 25 known common ways chicks can develop wrong that were checkboxes on the autopsy report. The document I was reading also talked about various causes that they knew could cause the malformations. I wish I could find that document. Basically, proper turning, proper maternal nutrition and health prior to lay, and keeping hatch parameters within recommended bounds are the best way to hatch healthy chicks. Those are the only things I can really affect also. Genetic abnormalities in breed stock and other causes aren't something I can do much about.

Scary and interesting! This has been a massive learning curve!