How to Assist Hatch An Egg (Parrot) That Is Pipping Upside Down?

[adrian]

I have an egg that is positioned upside down. Most of the eggs I have that do this never manage to hatch properly. Some of them manage to make a pip on the lower end of the shell, and if they can do this I can always save them, but many of them never do. Has anyone ever assist hatched an upside down egg successfully? It's so hard because all of the blood vessels are at the bottom, and you can't know where the head is. Any suggestions? This egg is very precious.

 

[EweSheep]

Do you have them in egg crates? If so, go ahead and take them out of the crates and put them on the floor of the bator and let them work themselves out.

 

[adrian]

The egg is on the floor of the incubator already. Does that factor into their ability to hatch successfully at all?

The problem is that there is no external pip yet.

 

[FenDruadin]

How can you tell that it has pipped in the wrong end? I'm just curious, because when I candle before lockdown, I can sometimes see a beak/bill in the air cell, but if it had pipped through the membrane at the other end, there wouldn't be anything visible. Or are you saying that the air cell is in the wrong end of the egg to begin with? I'm confused!

 

[adrian]

Sorry for being so confusing. There is no beak in the air cell. The air cell did "draw down" but the head is not positioned there. I had to pick away at some shell over the air cell to ensure that the head was not there, and I mostly saw yolk. I've experienced lots of situations like this. Some of the babies are positioned with their heads close to the shell so are able to externally pip, albeit from the wrong end of the egg, but some have their heads between their thighs, and inhale fluids and suffocate, being unable to reach the shell. The only way you can tell that they are malpositioned is by noticing that the membrane covers their entire body in the air cell area, as they have not broken into it, and that no head or wing is visible below the air cell... I wish there was some way to tell where the head is.

What I want to know is whether there is a way to save a baby that is unable to pip the shell due to malposition.

 

[adrian]

The egg is nowhere near being ready to hatch, it's simply ready to internally pip and is unable to breathe air. I think its back/neck is pushing against the air cell so its beak must be between its thighs. Hate to say it, but I think this one is going to die.

 

[FenDruadin]

I'm so sorry!

I wish I could help you. I've helped a duck out of the shell that pipped (externally) in the narrow end of the shell and then couldn't turn around to zip, but I don't know at all about the situation you're describing. I wonder why you're seeing so many like that? It's so sad! Is there something about the breed you're hatching that tends to have trouble with positioning?

Good luck, anyway, and let us know how it turns out. I hope someone else on here can help you more than I can...

 

[adrian]

Well, I've managed to free his head. I think he was prior to an internal pip, so was not breathing yet, but his head was stuck down into the yolk. From an air cell view, you could see only the back of the neck, so his face was facing downwards. He is not breathing yet, but is alive. His heart is beating and blood vessels are thick and look healthy. I feel bad about having to intervene so early but, I've seen many cases like this and they have only ever died. They start to breathe and then, inhale liquids in their egg and die a painful death. There was a bit of bleeding during intervention but I used corn starch to stop it and I managed to pull the head out. Yet again, though, no breathing. There was no breathing prior to assistance and no breathing now. I've placed his head back into the egg, but into a more normal position. Even in this position, he would not be able to break a hole in the egg. Whether he starts to breathe or not is up to him. If he does start to breathe and function normally, his head is free and he will be able to.

I know most people never assist before the internal pip but had I not, there would be no chance. He would have aspirated and died. (I had this happen just a few months ago with a baby muscovy duck; his head was far too difficult to locate and I could not help him. Upon "eggtopsy" I pushed on his chest and yolk started to pour out of his throat... It was so sad

).

Just so everyone knows, this is a parrot egg. I know why I've had so many chicks die this way: my hygrometer was 30% off, and my other two were even more off. Finally I have an accurate one after calibrating them, but it's too late.

Keep your fingers crossed... He is not bleeding anymore. I've wrapped the egg in warm, moist toilet paper. He most likely will not live but at least he won't inhale his own yolk this way.

 

[Katy]

Are you sure he was upside down? What you're describing sounds like pretty normal positioning. Their heads are almost upside down when they're in the correct position. If he had that much yolk he wasn't ready to internally pip.

 

[adrian]

Let's just say, his head was between his legs near the yolk sac. His wings are at his sides. A normal position for a parrot would be the right wing over the head, facing the air cell. If his head is between his legs facing the yolk sac, how would he ever internally pip properly? I've had a handful of eggs like this, and most of the time their heads are even lower down so I can never reach them. Like I said, I had an egg identical to this one and the baby inhaled his yolk before I could help him. He could not internally pip. Nevertheless, now that you mention it I second guess myself... I feel horrible. The air cell had gone through "draw down" which is normal, but as I've seen before, his back was in the air cell rather than his head. Chicks in this position, from my experience, simply push and push against the air cell but never reach it with their beaks. Maybe I did do the wrong thing, but I couldn't risk experiencing what I've seen happen so many times. All because of high humidity, which was the case this time.

Anyway, good news is he is moving more, and I think breathing. He was squeaking at me earlier. If he is squeaking, swallowing, moving his tongue, I really think he was ready to internally pip. I've just seen that happen so many times, lost so many babies from suffocation when they could not breathe... Only time will tell how this one does, and if I am guilty of doing the wrong thing.