I did it. Saw some blood vessels so didn’t go the full air cell but I just cracked a bit at the top and put coconut oil in it. It’s transparent so you can really see.
I actually was thinking the same thing but this is my second assist. The first time I went a little bit too far and the guy started to bleed but he is now a healthy one year old pekin duck!
If you want to, you can take off more shell over the air cell - it will not bleed - and then coat the membrane and further asses how absorption is going.
This is the epitome of why you don't help chicks! I feel like the worst chick mother. He's upright in a container surrounded by tissues. Hopefully he doesn't manage to kick himself free. In the egg he did seem malpositioned and a bit shrink wrapped as the internal membrane had surrounded him completely but there were no active vessels. I'm hoping for the best and at this point this is a lesson I can learn from.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Im really grateful that you responded so late at night. My stomach is turning and I really hope he doesn’t try to flail because I don’t want him to tip the container over and break his yolk. I put some tissue around for support. Thank you again!You're doing what you should be - here's the section out of my article about this:
Yolk Sac Not Fully Absorbed
Your chick hatched early, or you assisted a little too soon, and the yolk was not done absorbing. Don't panic, there's an easy fix. Firstly, you need to get that chick back into the lower half of its shell, if it has come out. Tuck it gently back in there. This will protect the yolk and keep it from getting ruptured. Next, you need to keep the chick in the shell and from being able to push itself out. We accomplish this by placing the chick, shell and all, into a small cup, which will hold the shell and the chick upright, thus preventing it from getting out of the egg. I find that a disposable plastic cup works well for this. You may have to prop the egg upright by using a dry paper towel to hold it in the proper position.
If there is a lot of yolk, it may take some time for the chick to finish absorbing it. Just let it be. When it's done, it'll be really moving around and struggling to get out of the bottom of the shell.
The yolk is also pale yellow and about the size of a quarter. He pushed his legs up so he is hanging literally right out of the top end. I fear he can push his legs once and he’ll be out. Should I move him to a deeper tighter space? Currently is snoozing as he worked hard...
