Help! Do I need to intervene!?

[BelovedBirds]

Keep us updated! Hopefully you'll get a fluffy little chick tomorrow

Not really any progress so far! On day 19 now, I have seen a little bit of rocking, so I have to assume the chick is alive and moving, but can't hear any peeping. There is the slightest crack on the surface of the egg that I noticed (I think) on the beginning of day 18, or end of day 17. It's kind of like a triangle and I thought perhaps the chick was pipping, but theres been nothing else since. I tried to get a photo but it won't show up. It looks like a pip but there's no actual hole, just maybe cracks. Do you think it sounds like a pip? If so, should I worry that the chick is unable to make a hole or zip, or is she just not ready? I'm a little worried but I'm trying not to despair too much since they can be as late as day 20 or even 21.
I'm ready and waiting to intervene, but I also don't want to rush in, incase she's still alive and absorbing the yolk still! This is my first try hatching, so I'm waiting impatiently over here

 

[BelovedBirds]

Sounds like a pip, it's not required but you can chip a piece of the shell off around the pip to make sure it's getting oxygen. If you turn a light on near it or play peeping sounds it'll hatch faster. As long as it can breathe it's fine to wait up to 24 hours before helping. I usually wait about 12 hours after a pip to try assisting.

I'll try the light and sounds! It's evening here, so most likely if there's no progress by early tomorrow morning, of day 20, I'll start to assist, probably best to make a safety hole and chip away some shell above the air sac to see the chick, right? I don't want to rush anything incase she's not ready, but I'm still worried I could end up helping too late I've been reading up on assisted hatches incase it comes to it. I'll keep you updated

 

[TundraFang]

I'll try the light and sounds! It's evening here, so most likely if there's no progress by early tomorrow morning, of day 20, I'll start to assist, probably best to make a safety hole and chip away some shell above the air sac to see the chick, right? I don't want to rush anything incase she's not ready, but I'm still worried I could end up helping too late I've been reading up on assisted hatches incase it comes to it. I'll keep you updated

You're not going to hurt it if you make a safety hole. I'm sure you know this but stop if you see blood and apply pressure with a paper towel. Your only risk is shrink wrapping but it should be fine as long as you keep the humidity up. Good luck!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Oh no! I was really hoping she'd make it... I'm glad you're not quitting, let me know if you start a thread for your next eggs

I will do! Despite losing this one, I really appreciated your support in this thread!

 

[BelovedBirds]

So everything is kind of confusing! I left the egg in the incubator for one more day, to check again to be safe before discarding. Upon a final candling, I saw the slightest movement, puzzled, I put it back in the incubator and within minutes the egg was rocking again. I felt positive about it, and decided to leave it again and let nature take it's course. Today, about days late, day 24, she still hasn't pipped, hasn't moved into hatching position and is still rocking. I can't tell if she is ready to hatch, I can't see any veins in the small gap between her and the air cell, but that gap worries me, she isn't how she shoild be. I'm now faced with a dilema of do I open the egg? If I wait any longer, and she can't move into hatch position, she could die. But if I intervene and the yolk is not absorbed, she could still die. I've never hatched eggs before, and I've never done an assist.
I worry theres something wrong with her, but if there's nothing wrong except slow growth, I'll kick myself if I don't help and she dies. What would you do???

Try opening the egg from the aircell. That's the safest place to start because there's no veins in the way. Chip away small pieces until you can see the membrane. If you can't see any obvious veins peel back the membrane. Stop if you see any blood and apply pressure with a paper towel. If there's no blood it's safe to continue chipping away the shell and peeling the membrane.

I went ahead and removed the shell over the air cell, thankfully it wasn't as difficult as I had worried! I managed to successfully remove the shell without hitting blood, or shrink wrapping the chick. I can see the chick now, I can see her leg up against the membrane as I guessed, and she's clearly not in the right position. She has not internally pipped so obviously I can't see breathing but every time I check on her the beak(?) seems slightly open or shut. So I'm satisfied that she is alive at the moment, but clearly not how she should be. The blood vessels in the membrane are few and extremely thin, so I assume they've almost been fully absorbed. Most of the membrane is clear, so I could try and snip a tiny hole where I believe the beak is to allow her to begin breathing. But for now I've placed her back in the incubator to warm her back up and am checking regularly, I'm not getting my hopes up... But it's still amazing to finally see her!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Sounds like everything is absorbed, I'd put a hole in the membrane just in case.

I went ahead and put a hole in the membrane, no bleeding. The couple of blood vessels still there look dark red and thin, and most of it is clear with no vessels. Should I go ahead and peel back the membrane, or should I wait and give her time to adjust to air? If so, how long? It's 9pm here and I'm a little worried about leaving her as she is over night

 

[-Flash-]

Good luck.

 

[TundraFang]

Not really any progress so far! On day 19 now, I have seen a little bit of rocking, so I have to assume the chick is alive and moving, but can't hear any peeping. There is the slightest crack on the surface of the egg that I noticed (I think) on the beginning of day 18, or end of day 17. It's kind of like a triangle and I thought perhaps the chick was pipping, but theres been nothing else since. I tried to get a photo but it won't show up. It looks like a pip but there's no actual hole, just maybe cracks. Do you think it sounds like a pip? If so, should I worry that the chick is unable to make a hole or zip, or is she just not ready? I'm a little worried but I'm trying not to despair too much since they can be as late as day 20 or even 21.
I'm ready and waiting to intervene, but I also don't want to rush in, incase she's still alive and absorbing the yolk still! This is my first try hatching, so I'm waiting impatiently over here

Sounds like a pip, it's not required but you can chip a piece of the shell off around the pip to make sure it's getting oxygen. If you turn a light on near it or play peeping sounds it'll hatch faster. As long as it can breathe it's fine to wait up to 24 hours before helping. I usually wait about 12 hours after a pip to try assisting.

 

[TundraFang]

So everything is kind of confusing! I left the egg in the incubator for one more day, to check again to be safe before discarding. Upon a final candling, I saw the slightest movement, puzzled, I put it back in the incubator and within minutes the egg was rocking again. I felt positive about it, and decided to leave it again and let nature take it's course. Today, about days late, day 24, she still hasn't pipped, hasn't moved into hatching position and is still rocking. I can't tell if she is ready to hatch, I can't see any veins in the small gap between her and the air cell, but that gap worries me, she isn't how she shoild be. I'm now faced with a dilema of do I open the egg? If I wait any longer, and she can't move into hatch position, she could die. But if I intervene and the yolk is not absorbed, she could still die. I've never hatched eggs before, and I've never done an assist.
I worry theres something wrong with her, but if there's nothing wrong except slow growth, I'll kick myself if I don't help and she dies. What would you do??

Try opening the egg from the aircell. That's the safest place to start because there's no veins in the way. Chip away small pieces until you can see the membrane. If you can't see any obvious veins peel back the membrane. Stop if you see any blood and apply pressure with a paper towel. If there's no blood it's safe to continue chipping away the shell and peeling the membrane.

 

[TundraFang]

I went ahead and removed the shell over the air cell, thankfully it wasn't as difficult as I had worried! I managed to successfully remove the shell without hitting blood, or shrink wrapping the chick. I can see the chick now, I can see her leg up against the membrane as I guessed, and she's clearly not in the right position. She has not internally pipped so obviously I can't see breathing but every time I check on her the beak(?) seems slightly open or shut. So I'm satisfied that she is alive at the moment, but clearly not how she should be. The blood vessels in the membrane are few and extremely thin, so I assume they've almost been fully absorbed. Most of the membrane is clear, so I could try and snip a tiny hole where I believe the beak is to allow her to begin breathing. But for now I've placed her back in the incubator to warm her back up and am checking regularly, I'm not getting my hopes up... But it's still amazing to finally see her!

Sounds like everything is absorbed, I'd put a hole in the membrane just in case.