Hatching the final chick, do I interfere?

[Bazy]

I am going to make this quick as possible. I don't know if I'm panicking for nothing or not. Been up all night monitoring my first hatch in my little giant. Started with Ameraucana eggs, culled down to 16 for various reasons and all but one have hatched. I watched one chick pip right in the lower middle of the shell. I watched it struggle for 12-14 hours then it started to slow WAY down. I raised the humidity up to 90% (soaking all my poor babies again) and snatched it out of the incubator, wrapped it in a warm, wet paper towel and gently chipped the outer shell away and the inner membrane was very tough, but I picked at it just enough to free his beak because his comb was red and irritated from the shell. Once I got enough of him free to do the rest himself, I put him back in the incubator and dampened his membrane with a straw until he hatched. His inner shell was BLACK! and his umbilical cord was too! I ran to grab scissors to cut it, but it was severed by the time I got back. He slept for a while, and now he's perfectly fine and acting like all the other chicks. (5 more hatched on their own after him, so I didn't dry them out).

My last chick pipped 12 or more hours ago. He has made a hole the size of a pea, and I can see him breathing, but that's it. some cracks around his pip, no struggling, no movement but his breathing beak tip that I can see. I don't have to have this last chick (I have 15 new ones) But all the chicks in the incubator are soaked from the humidity and falling all over the debris. Should I leave him alone, or try to hatch him? I don't have the "wrong" feeling like I did with the chick that hatched in the wrong position (right out of the middle of the egg) but I don't want the soaking wet chicks to suffer either! What should I do?

This is day 21. The 15th chick hatched about four or five hours ago. Mariks vaccines have to be done in the morning...

 

[Bazy]

Still no change. It just has not acted the same way as the others. Once they all made a bigger hole, they hatched within a couple of hours...

 

[goodb]

With as hard as this is to say, it's even harder to do as I have. Don't interfere.
It's entirely possible that it's not suppose to make it. If it does, it may be a special-needs chicken that may not be worth the effort.

I don't mean to sound heartless but it's better in my eyes to let whatever will happen, happen. Even with a hen, not all go well. My first broodie almost hatched a B.A. chick for her first. It pipped and broke off a lot of the shell but just didn't get past the membrane. Poor thing died before any of the others began to hatch. Good luck!

 

[MeepBeep]

I wait at least 24 hours after the external pip before I do anything... And then I will generally just open it up enough to see what is happening and make sure the chick is still alive, your appears to already opened up enough for this... I generally will not help with zipping until 36 hours have elapsed after the external pip... At most during that 36 hours I will encourage activity by tapping the egg with my finger nail, or rocking it back and forth slightly so that the chick perks up... If 36 hours have elapsed since the external pip then and only then do I consider zipping for them, but I do my best to leave the membrane intact so that they can push out and finish the hatch, for this I wrap the egg loosely in a moist paper towel with part of the paper towel touching the membrane so the water wicks into the membrane and keeps it moist... Sometimes I will even cover the membrane with a piece of plastic wrap that is plenty loose so the chick can still get out...

 

[Bazy]

Ok, we shall see what happens then. Thank you for your opinions. I just was on the fence, and the scary experience with the first stuck chick is making me very nervous. Picking up that egg with the chick tuned the wrong way was terrifying! I was frantic to get it back in the incubator and I'm still worried about all the black insides and black dried up looking cord Don't get me wrong, I can do what needs to be done, but I do want to give them the best start in my power.

 

[casportpony]

I like this link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

-Kathy

 

[Bazy]

I like this link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

-Kathy

That thread is very good! The first chick I helped had his foot wrapped around his own chin and neck. Every time he would push off, he would push his own head down, rather than out and essentially tighten the little ball he was in. His hole in the center of the egg was large enough to see it, but I wasn't sure what I was looking at! I repositioned his foot off of his neck, and he was able to push his shell off.

 

[Bazy]

Well, the chick continued on and did not make any further progress. I was getting to a point where I would exceed the time frame to administer the Marek's vaccine for the other 15 chicks so I helped him. It was a decision based on the greater good in this case. I did not want 15 un-vaccinated or improperly vaccinated chicks just to wait for the last one to hatch or not. I'm glad to say he was s completely developed and is doing fine now and all 16 have their shots.

The first chick I helped who came out the side of his egg has a small irritation on his tiny comb, but other than that, he is fine too!

Thanks for helping me decide!!

 

[Bazy]

Well, the chick continued on and did not make any further progress. I was getting to a point where I would exceed the time frame to administer the Marek's vaccine for the other 15 chicks so I helped him. It was a decision based on the greater good in this case. I did not want 15 un-vaccinated or improperly vaccinated chicks just to wait for the last one to hatch or not. I'm glad to say he was s completely developed and is doing fine now and all 16 have their shots.

The first chick I helped who came out the side of his egg has a small irritation on his tiny comb, but other than that, he is fine too!

Thanks for helping me decide!!

P.s. I call them 'he' because with my luck, they will both turn out to be Roosters!

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Congrats on the hatch! And it sounds like we both have the same kind of luck, lol.

-Kathy