HELP HELP HELP URGENT...Day 23 and nothing...Please!!

[whitecra]

Do you have an incubator?

 

[CindyS]

if the hole is not too big, I guess put it back under the hen. Has he broke through the membrane?

 

[SarahF]

there is no blood...the chick is still in its membrane and i see veins throughout the membrane, but the chick appears to be fully developed....

 

[Patchesnposies]

Sarah, at the top of the hatching forum there is a sticky with information about hatching chicks, in it there is information about what to do if you have to intervene and help a chick out....which is what you have inadvertently done.

It may help you a lot.

Keep us posted!

 

[Patchesnposies]

Sarah, here is the info in the sticky on intervention

Hi,
For those who have an incubated hatch and are wondering when and how to help your chicks that are not making progress, you may be able to use this info.

Do NOT be afraid to help the chick out! If you don't hear as much peeping, or see as much beak movement and it has been hours-it's probably time to help. More than likely it has nothing to do with a "weak" chick, but has everything to do with a chick whose membrane has dried out, or is too large for its shell but otherwise perfectly healthy and normal.

A good indicator of when to help (besides the peeping and moving lessening) is if you see that the pipped area has a very very white membrane showing through at the edges. Most intervention is required because of humidity issues.

When the chick pips its beak externally the drying process of the membrane really kicks in. And drying makes it nearly impossible for the chick to move around to "zip" the rest of the shell.

Here's what you need:

Have WARM water handy
Really Really WET WARM washcloth
DULL tweezers-not sharp and pointy
An eyedropper, or q-tips, or medicine dropper
Clean hands
Good lighting

Here's what you do:

Remove your egg from bator keeping in mind to turn off any air cconditioning and fans. You want your room as warm as you can stand. (Do not worry about the chick cooling off too much if the room is fairly warm. I have had mine out of the bator for up to 1/2 hour working on the shell and membrane-and the chicks are alive and healthy today). And do NOT be afraid to open and close the incubator-just keep adding wet cloths to the bator to keep humidity up.

Using your dull tipped tweezers, carefully start at the pip already created and lift ONLY the shell (like a boiled egg-but try hard to NOT include any membrane in your peeling of the shell) and to work around the shell. The best process is to take a bit in the tweezers and PINCH the shell and it will break in very small pieces gradually creating a neat little "zip". The key is to pinch small areas at a time and not remove huge sections. Your goal is to imitate what the chick would do under normal circumstances.

Zip the shell around the end where the chick started pipping-it should be at the large end of the egg, but sometimes they will pip at the small pointy end or even in the middle.

As you help zip the shell carefully take your warm water dropper etc. and "bathe" the membrane occassionally to start softening it up. Be very very carefull not to drop water or soak the area of the beak. You do not want to drop water in the nostrils and drown the chick.

If for any reason you see blood from the membrane-STOP. Put the egg back in the bator, and wrap the very wet, warm washcloth around the exposed zip you have created. Be careful to not completely cover the beak, but cover as much of the exposed membrane as you can to soften it up. Lay the pipped BEAK area on its side or facing up-not facing down-keep in mind the chick is breathing AIR at this point and will need to have an open uncovered access to breathe.

Leave the baby in the bator for an hour or two longer. Then try repeating the process untill you have zipped entirely around the egg. The MOST important object is to get the membrane very soft like it should have been for the chick to make its way out by softening it in the warm washcloth.

In VERY difficult cases, over a period of hours, you can, in steps, do this process and remove almost ALL of the shell and soak the membrane in the wet washcloth in the incubator. You also can (using your judgement) decide to help remove the membrane itself, but do not do that too early in the shell removing process (you can email me for more directions on the membrane).

All in all, you need to be very confident to intervene like this. If you are too scared or iffy about it, you may want to just wait it out. But honestly, if you wait and the chick gets quieter and stiller, chances are you will loose it without doing some intervention.

So you know it really does work, I have hatched out MANY like this myself. Once they make the pip and can't zip, the membrane rapidly dehydrates. Also, some chicks are just WAY to big for their shells and cannot physically move around to do the zipping and then they die in one spot having been unable to rotate. I found that several difficult chciks are actually the largest ones-the smaller "runt" chicks have literally kicked their way out like they were kickboxing.

I "gave birth" to, or hatched 2 chicks out COMPLETELY in my hand by using this method above AND removing the membrane (email or ask for those membrane directions). And I have also helped way more zip using the above method. They are alive and thriving as I speak-so it can be done! I am not a person who is willing to sit and listen to my bator get quieter and quieter as the chicks die in their shells. But, as I stated, you must choose what you feel is best for your situation, and be sure and ask if you are not sure when to intervene-there are many here on the BYC that have a wealth of info.

 

[momofdrew]

good luck Sarah

 

[SarahF]

i dont have an incubator.
the whole is large.
the membrane is still intact.
the heart is still beating.

i'm keeping the membrane moist and have it in paper towel, in a tupperware, ON a heating pad set on low.


how long do i do this until i go further????

 

[vfem]

Keep warming and wetting the paper towels. As stated above pick away some of the shell, leaving the membrane in tact. Do it slowly keep breaks while you can. If you have a good size low wattage light I would set the egg in the warm paper towels under that light to keep it warm. (A sponge may work better for you then the paper towel... wet it, wring it out)

My ducks went 3 and 4 days past their hatch date. Under a chicken in this season being cold... its like they have temps that are slightly cooler then usual and they can take a few extra days to finish developing and hatch late. Its not uncommon.

Just sit with the egg, work a little on the shell and just give her extra attention until she starts breaking the membrane on her own!

 

[Akane]

You can break the membrane after the blood vessels have started to absorb. If you see big thick blood vessels or lots of little ones everywhere don't break it. The chick will bleed to death. As the chick gets ready to hatch it absorbs the blood and the vessels disapear. You can slowly clear a little membrane at a time as the vessels shrink. If it starts bleeding don't continue. The blood vessels actually absorb faster if the membrane starts to dry but then there's the danger of the chick getting stuck so it's really a judgement call. You have to see it first hand to really know if it's too dry or wet and if it's time to start breaking it. Personally at this late I'd be looking for a clear spot without blood to poke a small hole in the membrane to let the chick breathe in case it has become stuck and can't break the membrane itself.

 

[SarahF]

i'm doing what is suggested and the chick isn't moving anymore...i dont even see beating.

im very discouraged and don't know what else i should be doing.

when i put water over the membrane with the Q-tip and nudge it's leg, it doesn't do anything.

advice?