Late Silkie Eggs

[Shadow1]

Help! I've hatched many eggs just the past couple of years and I've never had late eggs before. I've had a couple hatch upside down and helped them with no further complications. Thing is, I have a couple of eggs that are going into a day overdue and one hasn't even internally pipped not to mention neither one has externally pipped. The one that internally pipped is rocking, but isn't peeping and I can't see the beak, just a shadow in the air cell. The one that hasn't even internally pipped is barely moving and I can't see a beak attempting to poke through. Could they both be upside down?! I'm giving them until morning to pip and if they aren't I'm feeling the strong urge to intervene. Problem is, if they are upside down, how do I intervene?! Please help, this is making me sick. I just hatched from the same chicken a week ago and 10/12 pipped 3 days before hatch and only one was upside down but it had managed to pip. The other two, in case you're wondering, just never began to develop. Help!

 

[kuchchicks]

If you decide to help there is a good link on this site where there are a lot of people with this type of experience.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1081034/hands-on-hatching-and-help

With that said, I will relay some of my assisting experience. I can understand you strong desire to want to help. I hate to see any chick make it this far only to die. But chicks that do not at least internally pip on their own usually have something else going on. If they do not externally pip it is very likely that the yolk and blood vessels have not absorbed. You could assist this chick but if the chick is not ready you will either kill the chick or end up with a special needs chick that will require long term care of that you will have to cull later (culling later IMO is much harder than letting nature take its course).

The other chick that has internally pipped but not externally pipped may likewise still not be ready to hatch. There are a lot of things that go on during this stage. If the egg is rocking then the chick is trying to work it's way out. If you feel that it has been a long time you can consider scratching a very small hole in the top of the egg where the air cell is located. This will allow the chick to get air if it runs out of oxygen from the air cell. This too though can create its own problems. You can end up with drying membranes. (If it were me though and it had been more than 24 hours since the internal pip I probably would go this route). At this point I would not go further than this. I would try to give the chick every opportunity to complete the hatch on its own. How long has it been since the last hatch on this round? What day are you currently on?

I do not want to scare you off from assisting. I am a believer in assisted hatches when needed. I just feel that people need to be informed when making a decision to assist. There is a chance that you will save this chick. There is also a chance that this chick may die during the assist, or that this chick is not savable. Check out the thread that I attached. You will get a lot of great advice from a lot of great people! Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Shadow1]

The chicks are now 33 hours overdue. I made a hole safely for the one that had internally pipped and it has started chirping. I made a hole for the other as well, passed the float test but barley moving on it's own and no chirping. I candled before I did this and the one that has internally pipped is in the correct position while the other, I still can't tell if it's upside down. I did not touch the membranes as they are still crawling with moisture and full blood veins. I feel better that I at least provided holes but I'm very nervous about the one that hasn't internally pipped. Maybe they'll be ok and God decided I needed a nerve wrecking experience. I'm ok with helping animals who have special needs as I'm a vet tech anyway lol. I don't want them to have problems, but knowing I could have at least saved the poor things rides my guilt boat like no other. Now I wait, but my question now is...how long should I wait before I give up and get them out?

 

[annmarie33]

I have helped before since I thought it was internally pipped too long. I made a hole where the beak shadow was and used a wet whip to moisten membrane. Then kept making the hold bigger and even started the zip for it- it finished within an hour. And yolk was fully absorbed. I won't knkw if he soul have done that all himself. But it seemed like he needed some guidance because he was just sitting in the air cell for almost a day and everyone else had hatched. Good luck!

 

[RubyNala97]

Here's a question, have you calibrated your thermometer during this hatch? If you're hatching a lot and haven't calibrated your thermometer then maybe your temps are running a little low this hatch? Since it's the same eggs (that was going to be my question) then it's not the eggs but could be the temps. Low temps will delay hatch. When the chick internally pips inside the egg it starts breathing oxygen and release carbon dioxide. When the carbon dioxide levels get greater then the oxygen it causes the chicks neck to spasm and it's egg tooth to hit the shell and "pip" it. Sometimes this process doesn't work properly for one reason or another. I have created a safety hole on an egg that had been internally pipped for 30 hours but did not externally pip. The chick ended up zipping out by itself when it was ready.

I have not tried to go into the membrane and make the chick start breathing oxygen. But I do know a few hatchers (mostly on shipped eggs) that will actually go into the membrane and find the beak and pull it out. If the chick is malpositioned then this can be very challenging because you only have seconds to locate the beak and get it breathing. On some parrot eggs, hatchers use a machine that can locate the beak through the shell and then they drill a hole directly over the beak. But we don't have that available to most chicken hatchers. Lol. Give them time. If there is still veins they are just not ready. And keep your humidity high now that the membrane is exposed. To much air on the membrane and the chick will turn the chick "sticky". So humidity is important right now. Update when you can. Good luck!!

 

[Shadow1]

I'll definitely keep you updated. You could be right about the temp. Although it "shows" to be fine, my incubator started making a funny noise 3 days ago. Just in case, I moved them to my larger incubator that I know doesn't have problems. I cut a paper cup down to the bottom and filled it with soaked paper towels to help increase the humidity. At least now I can see the chicks moving inside the membrane but I dare not touch it. Hopefully this will fix the problem. For now they are just sitting there with the occasional chirp from one and an occasional moving around from the other. I think the chick that is chirping may be able to hatch out just fine but I'm still unsure about the other. I'll let you guys know!

 

[Shadow1]

Well still no progress with the internally pipped chick but I may possibly lose the one that just tried 10 min ago. It managed to pip through the membrane but it hit a vessel. It started to bleed like crazy! I got it stopped and it's still chirping but omg! Talk about a scare, to be honest, I'll be surprised if it's still alive in an hour.

 

[Shadow1]

Well the one that caused itself to almost bleed to death is definitely upside down. I thought it was the beak that came through at the top but it was a claw! I was forced to make a bigger hole to stop the bleeding and I could see the beak pipped on the wrong end. So this one will need full rescue for sure but not until the membrane dries up. Luckily, I think he/she will be ok through the night as long as it doesn't try to tear. Here's a pic of my lovely, nail biting situation.

 

[Shadow1]

Sorry if it's hard to tell. The claw is covered in blood and the dark spot you see further into the egg is the beak, not a shadow.

 

[RubyNala97]

Omg! I'm so sorry you are going through that! I would be scared too. I have had many chicks pip the wrong end and the blood will clot. I've seen fair sized blood clots when they finally zipped. Just try to keep the chick in the egg for as long as possible because you don't want it trying to get out without the yolk being absorbed because it can rupture. That chick still needs time. I wouldn't do anything more till morning at the earliest. Good luck. Please update.
Any advice, @AmyLynn2374?