I thought the chick died in the shell

[CarolJ]

Two days ago one of the eggs in my incubator pipped - then zipped about an inch. Then it stopped. Over 36 hours passed and nothing else happened. I didn't hear any chirping and I couldn't detect any movement. I would even look through the glass top of the bator and shine a flashlight along the zip to see if I could see any movement inside. Nothing. Meanwhile the three other chicks hatched. I waited another 12 hours and finally decided the hatch was over and that the un-zipped chick had died in the shell since 2 days had gone by since he'd started zipping. I put on rubber gloves to finish breaking open the shell to see if I could figure out what happened to it. As soon as I peeled back the top half of the shell, the chick started moving and then started chirping. I was in shock because I had thought for sure it was dead. I quickly put it back into the incubator where it promptly - within a couple minutes - finished hatching and is now running all over the bator and chirping madly. I'm still shaking my head in amazement. Has anything like that happened to anyone else?

 

[Reyvaughn]

I had one the last hatch that took almost 48hrs to zip. It was stuck to the shell a little and it had a mushy belly. So, mine had issues.

 

[CarolJ]

Mine wasn't stuck to the shell - and I haven't taken it out of the bator yet to check to see if its belly is soft. His toes are crooked - but I've had other chicks hatch that way and the toes straighten out after a day or two. If they don't, I can put tape on them to straighten them. Since we're going out tonight, I plan on leaving him in the bator until morning.

 

[ReikiStar]

The chick could have been too big for the shell and needed that extra room you created to get its head in the right position. I had to rescue our Lav Orp roo. He was such a big chick he wasn't able to get his head all the way into position to do more than pip. I had the whole half of the shell open and still he couldn't get out -- had to roll it on its side so he could fall out of it. (Wish I had snapped a picture but I was too nervous and just wanted him to be ok). Luckily all the blood vessels were dried and his yolk all absorbed, he was ready! I bet your chick was too after two days.

Congratulations on your better-late-than-never chickie!

 

[Lacrystol]

WOW that's a great story, so glad your chick survived, that would scare me to death. To wait that long for nothing, you would think for sure it was dead. Thank god you just didn't toss the egg out and that you checked it first. Congratulations....

 

[classhatching]

Now you have me worried about the chick we threw in the garbage today. He zipped, but then stopped moving/cheeping. We left him another 24 hours but with exposed membrane, we figured he was doomed. We picked him up, tapped on the shell...still nothing. So, we put him in the garbage. We weren't brave enough to open the shell! I hope he wasn't still alive in there!

 

[gabrielle1976]

Go get him out of the garbabge and check O.O .
I always open the top part of the shell were the air cell is befor I throw out eggs cuase every once and awhile you run across one that shoudnt be alive but is any ways.

 

[Stephanie739]

Go get him out of the garbabge and check O.O .
I always open the top part of the shell were the air cell is befor I throw out eggs cuase every once and awhile you run across one that shoudnt be alive but is any ways.

oh no..i tossed out an egg from my broody..now i'll always be wondering if there was a baby alive in there...ugh

Congratulations on your surprise baby. This is a great story. I'm glad I heard it now. My first incubator hatch will be in a few days. I probably wouldn't have opened any shells that do not hatch without reading this!

 

[Lemonhen]

Sounds like a little fighter!

Although I've hatched chicks under broodies, I just had my first incubator chicken hatch (Brinsea). My husband is a gamekeeper (we're in the UK) and years ago used to hatch all his birds, hundreds at a time. When the 'allotted' tine had passed and the hatched chick in the trays removed from the hatcher, it was my job to crack open any partially hatched or chipped eggs to see if their was a live chick inside! Unbelievably some of the latter did survive the ordeal!

I can't imagine doing this now and hubby even said himself, that the last 2 Pekin eggs I had hatch, he would have written off (the incubator would have switched off on them). They chipped a full couple of days before finally emerging. I had a staggered hatch (sunday through to tuesday) and put it down to age differences in the eggs as my temperature stayed static.

 

[roostersandhens]

that has never happened to me but once i had a chick who just died in the shell for real it was very sad