Help! Chick in shell!!

[QuoVadis]

This is my second time incubating, and I ordered Serama hatching eggs off of Ebay only reading afterward that apparently Serama eggs are quite hard to hatch, especially when shipped. My last hatch was not shipped but I got 100% hatch, so I was hoping it would tun out ok. I received 14 (ordered 12) and 4 had detached air cells. I set the others and candled at 10 days and found 6 of the 10 were developing. They went into lock down last Wednesday. By last night/this morning I had 4 hatch, but the other two didn't even have pip marks, and I had been suscpicious 1 or 2 were dead when I candled them before lock down. So since they hadn't pipped at all and they are couple days over hatch date I pulled the first one out and candled. There appeared to be a chick but I got zero cheeping or movement. I opened it up and there was a perfectly formed dead Serama chick. Even it's yolk and blood vessels had absorbed, but it was just dead. The only thing I could see that might have been wrong was it seemed to have some moisture or mucus coming from it's nostrils, so I was concerned it had drowned in the high humidity (something I had read was possible).

So I pulled the next one and to my surprise I saw a little movement and some faint cheeping. At that point I should have just put the egg back, but thinking of the other one that I thought may have been saved if I had helped it pip (I know it probably would still have died) I chipped a small hole. Then I put if back in the incubator, because I got scared I had done the wrong thing. But I am concerned now about what to do. Do I just leave it alone? Help it hatch? Right now there is a hole in the shell smaller than a dime, but I didn't break the membrane because it seemed like there were still too many blood vessels (which is why I stopped and put it back).

Help please!

 

[QuoVadis]

Also, I wanted to add that based on where I opened it it should have been near it's beak, but instead it seems to be the belly maybe. I think the chick may be positioned incorrectly and that is why it couldn't pip.

 

[amanda90]

What's your humidity at. If it's to low it could be stuck to the membrane and unable to pip and zip

 

[KayTee]

If you have other eggs that have hatched already then I would be inclined to keep going and open the egg some more. If you find the area where the chick is still attached to the blood vessels then leave it be. If you can get the head exposed then the chick will have a chance to hatch properly.

I did this for a chick yesterday (but it had already pipped, so I could see where to start). I took about half the shell away and put it back under the hen. It got out of the shell, but was still attached to the blood vessels. After a couple of hours the hen hadn't made a move to separate the chick from the egg so I took a pair of sterilised scissors and cut the bit that was attached. Today the chick is running around and eating - happy as anything!

I kept checking on the egg every 15 minutes or so, just to see that everything was still ok - not so easy when it's under a broody hen! Hopefully it will be easier for you in an incubator.

 

[QuoVadis]

Ahh I feel so guilty! Maybe I should have just left him alone. I peeled back about half the shell and finally found his head bent back by the small end. But the membrane was very thick, like egg white so maybe he was just a late bloomer and wasn't ready to come out? The weird thing was that even though the membrane was so thick and slimy, much of it wasn't that bloody - it was just clear. I freed his head and left the rest of his body in the shell. Right now he is breathing, but I don't think he looks that good and have a feeling he probably won't make it.

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

I hope it makes it

 

[KayTee]

Any news on the chick, Quo Vadis? It would be interesting for others on the site if you could post what happened - it helps us all to learn for future events.