I broke a live egg!!! HELP!

[Uff Da]

No, he didn't pip on his own. I was opening eggs I thought were quitters. I smacked that egg open with no care at all, and was shocked when it started bleeding and peeping at me! I had even candled and tapped to see if there was any movement before I cracked it to be sure it was dead, haha.

 

[Uff Da]

T

This is probably a really dumb question, but can I use vegetable oil? And what is the benefit of seeing the veins?

It is better to use something that has antimicrobial properties, which is why people use coconut oil. If you don't have CO, you can use Neosporin (without pain reliever).

You want to see the veins to see if they have receded enough for the chick to come out. Read the link I posted above--it explains everything.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Listen more than watch. Judge if the chirping noises that the chick makes are strong or becoming weak. As long as the little one seems strong, allow it to do the work; in the long run, the extra effort that the chick makes for itself, the healthier and stronger it will be in life. If however, it seems to be weakening and the crying subdued, then you may wish to offer assistance as it could be shrink-wrapped. In both cases, you can expect the chick to snooze for as much as 24 hours while, and after hatching. Don't be immediately alarmed if the chick is quiet (napping) during or after the hatching process unless it has entered the 'weak chick crying' phase.

 

[Ebony Rose]

If further assistance is needed to hatch the chick, seeing the location of and size of the veins can help you avoid them.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Veggie oil should be fine, I just prefer sunflower oil as it is readily absorbed.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Listen more than watch. Judge if the chirping noises that the chick makes are strong or becoming weak. As long as the little one seems strong, allow it to do the work; in the long run, the extra effort that the chick makes for itself, the healthier and stronger it will be in life. If however, it seems to be weakening and the crying subdued, then you may wish to offer assistance as it could be shrink-wrapped. In both cases, you can expect the chick to snooze for as much as 24 hours while, and after hatching. Don't be immediately alarmed if the chick is quiet (napping) during or after the hatching process unless it has entered the 'weak chick crying' phase.

Good advice! @Amurr said the chick has not pipped yet though. I would be concerned that it is not even strong enough to get through the membrane in order to breathe. But if the egg still has veins there is probably nothing that can be done about it anyway.

 

[Amurr]

O

It is better to use something that has antimicrobial properties, which is why people use coconut oil. If you don't have CO, you can use Neosporin (without pain reliever).

You want to see the veins to see if they have receded enough for the chick to come out. Read the link I posted above--it explains everything.

Thank you so much for your help.

Listen more than watch. Judge if the chirping noises that the chick makes are strong or becoming weak. As long as the little one seems strong, allow it to do the work; in the long run, the extra effort that the chick makes for itself, the healthier and stronger it will be in life. If however, it seems to be weakening and the crying subdued, then you may wish to offer assistance as it could be shrink-wrapped. In both cases, you can expect the chick to snooze for as much as 24 hours while, and after hatching. Don't be immediately alarmed if the chick is quiet (napping) during or after the hatching process unless it has entered the 'weak chick crying' phase.

Ok. I read the article. Lots of good stuff. I still have a question (I may have missed the answer in the article) but he hasn’t pipped. Not even internally. Should I open the membrane over his beak so he can breathe? Or should I just moisturize his membranes and wait? Like I said, this is day 24 and obviously I’ve done more than one thing wrong at this point. Should I try to post a picture?

 

[Amurr]

Um. So while I was putting neosporin on the membrane, it occurred to me that I was looking at his leg... is he.. is he upside down?!

 

[Eggscaping]

T

This is probably a really dumb question, but can I use vegetable oil? And what is the benefit of seeing the veins?

I'm not an expert, I just had 8 eggs hatch. They were shipped, and some were in the wrong place in the egg...air cell on the side, etc. I helped most of them hatch.
This is what I did. Not what you should do, but this is what I did, maybe it will help a bit.
I enlarged the pip hole (you're past that!) and peered inside. If I could see veins and they were obviously swollen with blood, I took a paint brush and painted the membrane with coconut oil to lubricate it and keep it from drying out. (Tiny, unused paint brush). Then, knowing the membrane was broken so the chick could breathe, I put it back into the incubator and waited. These were all on day 21 and starting to externally pip. After some hours I looked again. If the veins were still obviously containing blood, I put it back.
But finally, I could see the veins had shriveled up and been absorbed. At that point I carefully peeled off tiny pieces of shell to enlarge the hole...all the while stopping if I saw any blood-filled veins. (When the dried up they looked thready and pale orange, before that they were dark blood color and thicker). So you need to see the veins to check whether your chick is ready to come out or not. If you break veins too soon the chick will bleed out.
With mine, after I waited...lubricated...waited...and so on, the chick came the rest of the way out on its own. If your chick is ready to hatch, which it should have been on day 21, it shouldn't die with a piece of shell gone.
I actually ended up removing shell, lubricating, peeling back membrane that had no veins, and enlarging the hole to give mis-positioned chicks a hand. They all survived, except one that is now 2 days late...I thought it was dead but it began pipping tonight and I've been helping it. Now, some folks say "don't help a chick hatch'' and others say it's ok. Mind you, this is my only first time, so I'm a rank amateur.
But maybe this will help you a little bit. GOOD LUCK and do not beat yourself up!

 

[Amurr]

Ho

I'm not an expert, I just had 8 eggs hatch. They were shipped, and some were in the wrong place in the egg...air cell on the side, etc. I helped most of them hatch.
This is what I did. Not what you should do, but this is what I did, maybe it will help a bit.
I enlarged the pip hole (you're past that!) and peered inside. If I could see veins and they were obviously swollen with blood, I took a paint brush and painted the membrane with coconut oil to lubricate it and keep it from drying out. (Tiny, unused paint brush). Then, knowing the membrane was broken so the chick could breathe, I put it back into the incubator and waited. These were all on day 21 and starting to externally pip. After some hours I looked again. If the veins were still obviously containing blood, I put it back.
But finally, I could see the veins had shriveled up and been absorbed. At that point I carefully peeled off tiny pieces of shell to enlarge the hole...all the while stopping if I saw any blood-filled veins. (When the dried up they looked thready and pale orange, before that they were dark blood color and thicker). So you need to see the veins to check whether your chick is ready to come out or not. If you break veins too soon the chick will bleed out.
With mine, after I waited...lubricated...waited...and so on, the chick came the rest of the way out on its own. If your chick is ready to hatch, which it should have been on day 21, it shouldn't die with a piece of shell gone.
I actually ended up removing shell, lubricating, peeling back membrane that had no veins, and enlarging the hole to give mis-positioned chicks a hand. They all survived, except one that is now 2 days late...I thought it was dead but it began pipping tonight and I've been helping it. Now, some folks say "don't help a chick hatch'' and others say it's ok. Mind you, this is my only first time, so I'm a rank amateur.
But maybe this will help you a little bit. GOOD LUCK and do not beat yourself up!

How often do you moisturize? It’s nearly midnight and at this point I worry that I’m hovering, poking, and opening my incubator too much. After moisturizing with neosporin I can honestly say he has quite a bit of active blood vessel left. And now that I’ve noticed he’s upside down, I can see a small section of yolk. I don’t know how long I should leave him. If I should ignore him. I don’t evening know if I should work an air hole for him. Since he’s upside down I’d have to guess where his face is.