Lost my first baby..ended up intervening too late

[wskline]

I'm so sad right now. He cracked shell yesterday afternoon but then nothing. No movement, no chirping. So I finally decided I was taking the plunge and going to help. Here's what I got. He gone but wondering what that sack is at his bottom end. Is this normal?

 

[happyhens1972]

So sorry for your loss but you didn't intervene too late but too early. He wasn't ready to hatch. It is very normal for them to go 24 hours or more in between the external pip (that first hole in the shell) and starting the 'zip' (which is when they start cracking round the end of the shell to hatch).

During the last couple of days before hatch, the yolk (which is that sack at the bottom end that you refer to) is still being absorbed into the chick's abdomen. If you hatch the chick out too early, the yolk has not been absorbed and the chick will die because it basically has its stomach contents on the outside. It is extremely important for this absorbtion process to be complete before assisting in a hatch.

Sadly, it is very difficult to tell when this has completed and is a common mistake of first time hatchers to get panicky and intervene far too early.

For the rest of the hatch, don't touch anything until a minimum of 24 hours after that first hole appears and even then, it is normal for the chick to take periods of rest and sleep as hatching is an exhausting process. Just remember that if there is a hole in the egg, the chick can breathe. It also has that yolk to feed and water it so it can survive for quite some time without help. If it has been more than 24 hours from the pip and you are concerned, put 'assisted hatch' into the search bar here and read up on what to do. It should be a very careful and very drawn out process, only taking tiny measures at a time and allowing the chick a chance in between to take over and do the rest itself.

Hard as it is, the usual policy is SIT ON YOUR HANDS!!!

So sorry again for your loss and good luck with the rest of the hatch.

 

[mebuff daisy]

So sorry ,but we all make mistakes

 

[wskline]

But he wasn't moving at all and it had been 24 hours. I feel bad I lost him but good learning experience. Thank you happyhen1972. Hopefully I will have better luck with the rest. I'm so hooked on this incubating, I went and bought another incubator.

 

[happyhens1972]

It is awfully addictive, I think we all understand THAT particular pull!! But it can be awfully heartbreaking too. It is bad enough when you lose eggs part way through incubation, those 'quitters' you can never fully explain, but it's even harder to get right through to hatch and then to lose them either in the shell or post-hatch and then spend the whole time second guessing what you could have done to save them.

Hard as it is, we just have to rejoice in the successes and put the failures down to experience.

 

[wskline]

Happyhens1972, another egg cracked. Can see piece shell keeps lifting. Sitting on hands this time. No intervening. Let's hope I have better luck this time. I'm so excited.

 

[happyhens1972]

Fab!! How's it going now? Has it hatched? x

 

[wskline]

happyhens1972, as of this morning, it has not hatched. It was chirping in that egg and really pecking at egg. it's hard to sit on hands and not help him. I stayed up till midnight watching, thinking, oh he's going to break thru now. A little tiny piece of shell fell off so he has hole there now. Fingers crossed he makes it out of there but losing hope.

 

[happyhens1972]

Once he has a proper 'pip' hole, it is not unusual to go 12 hours or more before he starts the next stage...the 'zip'....how's he doing? Has he pipped at the right end of the egg....the 'fat' end? If he's at the narrow end, then it's likely he'll need help regardless.

 

[wskline]

He is pipped from the fat end of the egg. Hubby just called to say, he is still pecking at shell. It's fascinating to watch, at times he almost pushes a piece of shell off. I can't wait to get home to watch some more. We have 4 other eggs in incubator and they are all now cracked. The one egg kept rocking back and forth last night non stop. I said, he will be one to come right out.