HELP my first chick hatched

[gavbarker]

Hi my first chick just hatched well it piped a bit of the shell off but there was the white membrane under it and it was like that for 6 hours so i decided to help and put a tiny hole in it and i ended up takeing most of the shell off the chicks out now and drying there was a bit of blood is that normal? The membrane was a bit dry is it ment to be? I took the water tubs out and put a damp sock in so it wouldnt drown will that bring the humidty up and help the other eggs do u think?

 

[gavbarker]

If anyone could give me any advice please do thanks

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Yes- sock should help. At hatch point, you should have a bit of moisture on the viewing windows. As each chick hatches, the windows will steam up more. I would guess that you may have a low humidity if your membrane was dry. The membrane will be a bright white and almost look like paper if it's too dry. A moist membrane almost allows you to "see through" the membrane-kinda like a damp paper towel would look.

You can use the search function up top and key in words such as pipping, wet sock, helping chick pip, etc. Using that will take to to many threads with details about how others chicks hatched.


Yes, there will be a bit of blood as the veins in the shell dry up and separate away from the shell and chick during hatching. A large amount of blood if one helps a chick hatch can be a bad thing. Be very careful if you remove the shell. I helped by removing the shell in a "pip" pattern (360 degrees around where chick pipped) and then I replaced the chick in shell to the bator after laying back on a wet washcloth. The washcloth (as long as you don't cover the breathing of chick) will really help soften the exposed membrane so baby can make it out. You do not want to pull on membrane as you may make the chick bleed-if that does accidently happen-return chick to bator and wait a bit-keep it moist.

PS: read this thread it will help:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2664

also a quote by jimnjay from thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1210

I just had to help on of my chicks out of the shell. It had pipped the shell on the wrong end. I have never helped any chick that has not managed to pip a hole in the shell. If after a full 18 hours or more without any progress, I will peel the shell off the membrane very carefully, starting at the site of the pip. I try to peel shell around the egg in a 360 degree fashion. Usually they are very dry and you can put them egg back on a damp cloth or paper towel. It is best to watch them at this point and see if they are still trying to break free. Trying to peel the membrane can cause bleeding as the veins that formed early at attached. You must proceed very carefully and slowly to allow some freedom for them to move. Once a chick is stuck it is extreamly hard for them to hatch. I did have anothe one in this batch that hatched all by its self from the breech position, ( the small end of the egg) They can some times make it out, I watch carefully to see if progress is being made before I would interfer, It there is a vital little guy in there desperately trying to hatch, I can't just leave it especially when I know that there were less than desirable conditions, temp spikes or humidity issues involved that may have contributed to the problem it is having.

It is a tough call and when in doubt it is best to let mother nauture make the decision but with that being said, the ones that I have helped are all growing and are active healty chicks.​

 

[gavbarker]

Thanx for the info its very usefull just one more thing the blood from the hatch as gone onto its face a bit and seems to be drying up around the eye a bit should i do anything or just leave it?

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Tough call. You may want to keep the bator shut tight so the others will have correct humidity and temp for hatching-opening to wipe the chick may mess it up. How many more are to hatch? I did open my bator quickly once or twice to add more water to sock and to quickly grab some of the eggshells the babies were tripping on.

If you do decide to wipe chicks eye off, do so quickly (don't leave bator open long) and use WARM water to wipe gently. I myself would only wipe if I thought the blood would dry and prevent the eye from opening and closing. If you want to remove it for the sake of cleaning the bird up a bit, then I would probably wait for the rest of my hatch to finish.