Help... What do I do...day 21

[sumi]

You said you read the assisted hatch article? Compare what you are seeing to the pics in the article, showing the membrane and what it should look like. If you dampen the membrane with a wet Q-tip you should be able to tell, also check for signs of life from the chick.

 

[A roo or two]

I have no hatching experience but I wanted to wish you and the babies luck that everything is ok.

 

[wewcz5]

Thank you A too or two!
I did read it and I read it again just to make sure I did everything right. I do see movement. I will do the Q-tip thing. No other eggs have piped so is it safe to be opening the incubator?

 

[sumi]

Yes, as long as you are quick the other eggs will be fine.

 

[wewcz5]

Okay, so I wet the membrane earlier today and put it back in the incubator. The chick is moving inside. There are blood veins visible when I wet him. I did not see a internal pip which makes me sad. I think I opened him a bit early or it was a different egg that was peeping. My husband could make out an eye but no beak. I think it's still under the wing. I have been leaving him alone the last 3 hrs. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[sumi]

Just keep the membrane damp. As long as it doesn't dry out it will be fine for awhile and give him time to absorb the yolk and for the blood vessels to recede. A high humidity (65%+) would help prevent the membrane drying out too much and too soon.

 

[wewcz5]

Thank you! I candled the other egg and didn't see an internal pip. The baby was moving fine inside so I put him back in the incubator. I just dampened the open egg and I opened it a little more to find the beak. I did find it and I'm pretty sure there is no internal pip. Should I just leave it alone and hope it pips on its own? How long will it be okay with no oxygen? Is there a point I will need to open it? I'm sorry for so many questions I am just so new at this. Thank you for your patience!

 

[sumi]

Give it a bit longer to pip and just keep an eye on it. As long as it's moving and it can reach the membrane when it's time to pip it's o.k. As for oxygen and breathing, the chick is getting oxygen via the inner membrane (allantois), which is filled with blood vessels (the vessels I told you to look out for). These blood vessels bring oxygen to the embryo and take carbon dioxide away. The allantois also stores excretions, absorbs albumen (egg white) used as food by the embryo, and absorbs calcium from the shell for the skeletal needs of the embryo. The allantois stops functioning when the chick punctures the air cell and starts to breathe on its own. The blood vessels then starts receding and at the same time the yolk sac gets drawn into the chick's abdomen, to provide food for it to live off for the first 2-3 days after the hatch. This happens more or less simultaneously, which is why we look at the vessels and judge by their progress how ready the chick is to hatch.

 

[davemonkey]

OP, you say that you think you have a shrink-wrapped chick? Can you walk me through what you have done so far? I believe I have one like this as well. I'm still on Day 20, but it's sibling has already pipped and is unzipping now (and the other 2 I am pretty sure are dead). So far I have candled the ones that did not pip yet so I know where the air space is...and I saw no internal pip on these.

 

[wewcz5]

My egg was open when I saw that it was shrink wraped. I put it back in the incubator and saw that the sac wasn't clingin to the chick any more. That's all I did. I also put more water surface area in the incubator to get the humidity up. I think warm wet paper towels work pretty good. Also you can put a sponge in there. I would put it in the microwave for 2 min though to kill any bacteria. The warm spong will steam making it more humid. I hope that helps some. I am a newbie so its really just a guess.