How to open a pipped egg

[Chickie]

My eggs were 4 days over due and i had heard cheeping for 24 hours then by the following morning it had stopped. I decided to open the egg and the chick had died but was fully formed. I am pretty sure if i had helped it by putting a small hole in the shell it would have been fine. I have some more eggs due to hatch in a couple of days and don't want this to happen again I have heard
people put a small hole in the shell but wondered how you would do this without hurting the chick?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't know if putting a small hole into the shell would have been that helpful for the chick. At 4 days late, the chick would have probably used up it's energy supplies and might have still not made it. In addition, if the chick was not positioned correctly in the egg, it may not have been able to angle it's self correctly to make it out by cutting around the shell.

If you are going to do any chipping, you might break the inner membrane that is not ready to come off yet and cause the chick to bleed to death. If you certainly want to help though, I suppose you can put a hole in the part of the egg into the air cell, but this may cause it to dry out and make it harder for the chick when it is ready. Tough call...

My suggestion is that you just watch the temperature carefully and make sure that it is warm enough. For a hatch to be 4 days late, the temperature would be running about 1-1.5 degrees too low for the duration of the hatch. Better thermometer?

I had a bunch of chicks die in shell fully formed and yolk adsorbed because the heat went out on day of hatch for about 4 hours and it wasn't caught in time as the eggs cooled down significantly.

Good luck with your hatch and lets hope your second batch makes it out! Let us know if you get anyone!

 

[jmofaustin]

You can put a small hole in the air cell side of the egg with a thumb tack by gently twisting it back and forth without much pressure till it drills a small hole. Candle the egg first to make sure you are in the air cell. I had to do this last week and my chick was breech she lived in the shell tweeting for 2 days before I finally decided to hatch her out. I am proud to say she is alive and well today. I know that others on the board do not agree that you should hatch a chick (survival of the fittest) but I cannot let an animal die if there is a way to help it, and besides, I have no plans to start breeding this chicken.

 

[Chickie]

Hi Thanks for the thumb tack idea. There was no air cell as the chick had pipped through it already. It had pipped about 36 hours before it died. Any idea's where to make a hole if this happens. Also she chick looked very big in the egg as if it didn't have enough room to move around because it had grown too much.
Thanks

 

[jmofaustin]

There is still an air cell, it is at the big end of the egg, I marked the spot while I candled it, then I drilled the hole in the light. You just have to be careful not to hit the chick, don't push the tack through any further than just getting it through. That will allow enough air in. The chick grew for 3 days longer in the egg so it would have been a lot bigger than if it had hatched on time.

 

[Chickie]

Ok Il have a look and see if i can see it next time. Thanks Il let you know what happens. I have four due to hatch today but they havent even pipped yet can you still hear them cheeping even if they don't pip. Thanks

 

[silkiechicken]

Good luck with your hatch.

They won't make noise until they get into the air cell. I think by saying that they pip'ed, that means they have already put a hole into the egg shell on their own.

 

[jimnjay]

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.

 

[Chickie]

Ok Thanks forall your advice. The one's that are due today arn't doing anything yet. The electric went for a day and i was trying to keep them warm with hot water bottles and jumpers so they might of been damaged. The chick kept developing after but they are too dark to see now. Will let you know what happens.

 

[Ravenxxx]

Oh Good luck Chickie I do hope they all hatch safely for you.

+*+*+*Fingers crossed*+*+*+