Help? No internal pip but external egg cracked.

[SunnyDay123]

I would start with chipping away enough to see the beak and see if it is breathing. Then as long as there is no bleeding, I would continue chipping away until the chick can break itself out the rest of the way or until it is out. I would stop right away if I see the yolk sac is not absorbed and return the chick to the incubator.

We chipped a little and there is a small hole where we saw it's beak. It seems a little weak. So, should we just chip away the shell and help it break out? I'm worried about it bleeding. I put it back in the incubator. So, we should continue to chip away more? How much?

And, thank you for your help!

 

[tuesdaze]

Personally, I would continue to chip away, as long as there is no bleeding and the yolk sac is absorbed. You may be able to see if the circulatory system has not receded, but I would hazard a guess that it has. It has been long enough and the chick is weak, so in that situation, I would help it all the way out. Hopefully you will find a healthy, normal chick that has just confused up with down.

 

[Windus]

I had to do this with one chick my last batch, unfortunately it was just too weak and did not make it 24 hours. But, if you don't help it is going to die anyway so you might as well give it a shot

 

[SunnyDay123]

Personally, I would continue to chip away, as long as there is no bleeding and the yolk sac is absorbed. You may be able to see if the circulatory system has not receded, but I would hazard a guess that it has. It has been long enough and the chick is weak, so in that situation, I would help it all the way out. Hopefully you will find a healthy, normal chick that has just confused up with down.

So, we peeled back about a third of it. There was a tiny bit of blood, but I can't tell if the yolk sac is there or not. So, we are a bit concerned peeling back more. We put it back in the incubator to warm it up more and it's on a warm, wet paper towel. It's chirping, but not really moving too much. But, it responds to us. It's wing seems to be covering it's face. It seems to be trying to move, but seems to be a lot of effort for it. Where would the yolk sac be and would it be runny or is it a little enclosed?

 

[SunnyDay123]

I had to do this with one chick my last batch, unfortunately it was just too weak and did not make it 24 hours. But, if you don't help it is going to die anyway so you might as well give it a shot

I'm so sorry. We are heart broken and still have hope, but not sure what to do.

 

[tuesdaze]

The yolk sac is on the abdomen and gets drawn into the abdomen before the chick hatches. It's not runny unless it has broken. It should be enclosed like the yolk in an egg when you break an egg open. Some of the reasons moving may be a lot of effort: it could be because of an awkward position, physical problems, the membrane may be sticking to it or the chick may just be worn out. If the membrane seems like it's drying out, you can moisten it or lightly coat it with some coconut oil, vaseline or even antibiotic ointment that doesn't have any pain reliever in it.

 

[junebuggena]

So, we peeled back about a third of it. There was a tiny bit of blood, but I can't tell if the yolk sac is there or not. So, we are a bit concerned peeling back more. We put it back in the incubator to warm it up more and it's on a warm, wet paper towel. It's chirping, but not really moving too much. But, it responds to us. It's wing seems to be covering it's face. It seems to be trying to move, but seems to be a lot of effort for it. Where would the yolk sac be and would it be runny or is it a little enclosed?

The position of the chick sounds perfectly normal. Since there was a bit of blood, the chick is definitely not ready to finish the hatching process. After that external pip, it can take over 24 hours for a chick to start zipping. It is hard work getting into position and then breaking through the shell. The chick needs a rest and the vessels and yolk need to completely absorb. Only once all of that is done, will the chick resume the work of hatching. I know it's hard, but be patient. You can do more harm than good by helping too much or too soon.

 

[SunnyDay123]

The position of the chick sounds perfectly normal. Since there was a bit of blood, the chick is definitely not ready to finish the hatching process. After that external pip, it can take over 24 hours for a chick to start zipping. It is hard work getting into position and then breaking through the shell. The chick needs a rest and the vessels and yolk need to completely absorb. Only once all of that is done, will the chick resume the work of hatching. I know it's hard, but be patient. You can do more harm than good by helping too much or too soon.

I've been trying to be patient. However, it was nowhere near its air cell. It had an external pip last night, but it has been almost 20 hours now and no change. We're keeping it back in the incubator. I don't want to do anything and have been completely patient, but I don't want to lose it by not helping. It's starting to move now and we are just letting it stay there. I can't see the yolk and we don't want to damage anything. I couldn't believe when we woke up this morning, there was a chick in the incubator and thought for sure it was this one, but no...another one. Crazy little things.

 

[tuesdaze]

The position of the chick sounds perfectly normal. Since there was a bit of blood, the chick is definitely not ready to finish the hatching process. After that external pip, it can take over 24 hours for a chick to start zipping. It is hard work getting into position and then breaking through the shell. The chick needs a rest and the vessels and yolk need to completely absorb. Only once all of that is done, will the chick resume the work of hatching. I know it's hard, but be patient. You can do more harm than good by helping too much or too soon.

@junebuggena I don't know if you read all of this thread, but this chick externally pipped the side of the egg, not near the aircell, so I was thinking it is not in the right position. At 12:22 pm it had been 15 hours since it pipped and it was no longer chirping. It started chirping again after the pip was expanded a bit. Is it really too early to assist this hatch? If there is bleeding or the yolk sac is not absorbed, of course it is not ready to finish hatching, but in my opinion at that point this chick was not going to survive without beginning a slow, careful assist. Is there something I missed or did not consider?

 

[junebuggena]

The external is a bit lower than typical, but not to the point of abnormal. Even pips at the wrong end of the egg usually hatch just fine without assistance. 15 hours since pip is still a bit too early to start helping. Generally, it's a good idea to wait till the 24 hour mark to start helping. At that point, it's safe to assume there is something wrong, and you can usually assist without much fear of doing harm. I'm not a big advocate for hatching intervention. I'd rather do nothing at all than do something that unintentionally leads to the chick's death.