Homeschool Hatch-Along (2/23 hatch)

[Cheekychook12]

Scratch that. #4 is out. Still waiting on #6 in the strange position. Now I don’t want to go to bed lol.

I didn’t sleep for two nights when hatching my first chicks I was too worried
They are so cute, can’t wait to see some fluffed out pictures

 

[Slothinc]

Adorable babies!!! Congratulations!! So there are still two to go?

 

[Mjismom]

Adorable babies!!! Congratulations!! So there are still two to go?

Just one to go now. #6

 

[Slothinc]

Just one to go now. #6

Oh that is so exciting!!! Can’t wait to see #6! Please post pics of them all fluffed up after they have all hatched!

 

[Mjismom]

Wow. They are so stinking cute. Our kids just keep screeching and even crying because they just can’t handle the cuteness overload.

Still waiting on #6. It has been almost 24 hours since we saw that first pip. We have a pretty busy day today and will be home about 4pm. I thought I would leave the chicks in there and wait until then before taking them out and considering assisting #6. She has pipped through the membrane so she’s getting oxygen and should be ok for today, right? What do you think? How long do you wait until assisting?

 

[Slothinc]

Wow. They are so stinking cute. Our kids just keep screeching and even crying because they just can’t handle the cuteness overload.

Still waiting on #6. It has been almost 24 hours since we saw that first pip. We have a pretty busy day today and will be home about 4pm. I thought I would leave the chicks in there and wait until then before taking them out and considering assisting #6. She has pipped through the membrane so she’s getting oxygen and should be ok for today, right? What do you think? How long do you wait until assisting?

I consider myself to be an “early assister” but only because I have hatched quite a bit and have lost a lot of babies by waiting too long. Since you’ll be out and about today though, I would wait until you are home and settled and then consider assisting if the chick still hasn’t made any progress.

If it does come to that point, I would remove the two hatched chicks and put them in the brooder. Then pull out the egg and use tweezers to gently take off little pieces of shell around the area that the chick has pipped. Continue taking off little pieces around the whole shell area covering the air cell. At that point if the membrane around the chick is looking white then it is likely stuck. Moisten the membrane around the chick with warm water or coconut oil and make sure there are no large blood veins in the membrane. If no large veins, then gently tear the membrane starting where the chick has internally pipped. If the chick is still making a lot of “chewing” motions then it is still absorbing the yolk.

So in summary, basically what I usually do is take off all the shell where the air cell was, if there aren’t large blood vessels in the moistened membrane I will gently open the membrane and let the chicks head and shoulders be exposed, then place the egg back in the incubator.

Usually they will hatch on their own within the next 20 mins. If they haven’t done much after about an hour I will assist some more to free a bit more of the chick. But never pull the chick out of the bottom of the egg, let them do that when they are ready. Fingers crossed the chick will just hatch on her own today, but if not, you’ve got this!

 

[Mjismom]

I consider myself to be an “early assister” but only because I have hatched quite a bit and have lost a lot of babies by waiting too long. Since you’ll be out and about today though, I would wait until you are home and settled and then consider assisting if the chick still hasn’t made any progress.

If it does come to that point, I would remove the two hatched chicks and put them in the brooder. Then pull out the egg and use tweezers to gently take off little pieces of shell around the area that the chick has pipped. At that point if the membrane around the chick is looking white then it is likely stuck. Just continue taking off little pieces of shell around the air cell. Moisten the membrane around the chick and make sure there are no large blood veins. If the chick is still making a lot of “chewing” motions then it is still absorbing the yolk.

But basically what I usually do is take off all the shell where the air cell was, if there aren’t large blood vessels in the moistened membrane I will gently open the membrane and let the chicks head and shoulders be exposed, then place the egg back in the incubator.

Usually they will hatch on their own within the next 20 mins. If they haven’t done much after about an hour I will assist some more to free a bit more of the chick. But never pull the chick out of the bottom of the egg, let them do that when they are ready. Fingers crossed the chick will just hatch on her own today, but if not, you’ve got this!

Wow! Thank you so much!! This is so so helpful. I will try to do exactly as you said if it comes to that. Praying she is out by the time we get home!

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

The colors on the black chick look so cool!

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Scratch that. #4 is out. Still waiting on #6 in the strange position. Now I don’t want to go to bed lol.

Oh my gosh, I remember the first time we hatched chicks I think we stayed up until midnight lol!

 

[Mjismom]

Ugh. She’s not out yet. The hole is slightly bigger but no zipping. I really don’t want to have to assist.