Malpositioned chick.

[Offshoreorca]

I think I'm ok with waiting until tomorrow. As long as my humidity is high, having that opening won't be an issue, right? I would much rather let this chick do it on its own, if possible. I got worried because I realized it had pipped in the wrong place and didn't know how to proceed. Thank you for your help. I'll check periodically for chirping and movement, but otherwise, try to sit on my hands and hope for a chick hopping around the incubator in the morning!

As long as your humidity is high, it won't be an issue at all. I find the Brinsea incubators keep humidity really well if you just crack the dome to pop in. It concerns me a little that you can't see the beak - can you in person? If you can't see the beak to look for chewing, I would take the advice from @nchls school and check incase it had pipped yesterday and you didn't notice it. Just be very very careful.

@nchls school My thinking was if the chick only pipped overnight then it should be still absorbing and she risks opening it before it's ready - many malpositioned chicks hatch fine, though there is always a bit of a risk of getting stuck. Given that her other eggs hatched fine this is less of a risk than an already bad hatch. The rest of hers did hatch overnight today, but to have one half a day or up to a day behind does happen. There's nothing wrong with her checking for veins in the membrane inside, yes, but opening the egg up too much more risks the need for a mandatory assisted hatch, even if it's not ready. It's hard to know exactly where this chick is at without being present, so my caution for her was not to rush into things if it truly only pipped overnight. There is a risk it has been too long if it pipped yesterday and this was not noticed, yes. I never assist within 24hrs of external pip and I check the eggs regularly so I'm confident I know when this occurs. If the chick can't survive that long when you can see it breathing, there might be some else wrong with it. However, in these cases I have been able to monitor the beak through the pip hole to watch it.

 

[tess36]

As long as your humidity is high, it won't be an issue at all. I find the Brinsea incubators keep humidity really well if you just crack the dome to pop in. It concerns me a little that you can't see the beak - can you in person? If you can't see the beak to look for chewing, I would take the advice from @nchls school and check incase it had pipped yesterday and you didn't notice it. Just be very very careful.

@nchls school My thinking was if the chick only pipped overnight then it should be still absorbing and she risks opening it before it's ready - many malpositioned chicks hatch fine, though there is always a bit of a risk of getting stuck. Given that her other eggs hatched fine this is less of a risk than an already bad hatch. The rest of hers did hatch overnight today, but to have one half a day or up to a day behind does happen. There's nothing wrong with her checking for veins in the membrane inside, yes, but opening the egg up too much more risks the need for a mandatory assisted hatch, even if it's not ready. It's hard to know exactly where this chick is at without being present, so my caution for her was not to rush into things if it truly only pipped overnight. There is a risk it has been too long if it pipped yesterday and this was not noticed, yes. I never assist within 24hrs of external pip and I check the eggs regularly so I'm confident I know when this occurs. If the chick can't survive that long when you can see it breathing, there might be some else wrong with it. However, in these cases I have been able to monitor the beak through the pip hole to watch it.

It's really trying on its own. You can see the progress it has made. The only thing I did was open up that flap at the top. It pipped through the membrane down at the bottom. I saw its beak when it did it, but I can't tell where the beak is now.

 

[nchls school]

Yeah, you will have a chick soon. The zipping is occurring high enough so no assist should be needed.

 

[tess36]

Yeah, you will have a chick soon. The zipping is occurring high enough so no assist should be needed.

Thank you! It has made even more progress since I posted the pic. Maybe it just took a long nap after that first pip to save up its strength for the main event. I will come back with the end result. I'm kind of in shock that it looks like I'm going to have 100% hatch rate on my first try. I figure it's more a testament to the incubator than to me. Lol.

 

[nchls school]

As long as your humidity is high, it won't be an issue at all. I find the Brinsea incubators keep humidity really well if you just crack the dome to pop in. It concerns me a little that you can't see the beak - can you in person? If you can't see the beak to look for chewing, I would take the advice from @nchls school and check incase it had pipped yesterday and you didn't notice it. Just be very very careful.

@nchls school My thinking was if the chick only pipped overnight then it should be still absorbing and she risks opening it before it's ready - many malpositioned chicks hatch fine, though there is always a bit of a risk of getting stuck. Given that her other eggs hatched fine this is less of a risk than an already bad hatch. The rest of hers did hatch overnight today, but to have one half a day or up to a day behind does happen. There's nothing wrong with her checking for veins in the membrane inside, yes, but opening the egg up too much more risks the need for a mandatory assisted hatch, even if it's not ready. It's hard to know exactly where this chick is at without being present, so my caution for her was not to rush into things if it truly only pipped overnight. There is a risk it has been too long if it pipped yesterday and this was not noticed, yes. I never assist within 24hrs of external pip and I check the eggs regularly so I'm confident I know when this occurs. If the chick can't survive that long when you can see it breathing, there might be some else wrong with it. However, in these cases I have been able to monitor the beak through the pip hole to watch it.

I do not disagree with your advice other than to check the chick's progress. Once the membrane is bloodless it is time to hatch. This can be done by making the hole just a bit bigger than what was already done. Leaving an unhatched chick with a bloodless membrane often results in the chick's death as it struggles to get free.

 

[JaeG]

I just hatched one that pipped at the narrow end of the egg. It managed to unzip just fine but then got stuck and couldn't push itself out, so keep an eye on it and help out if necessary.

 

[tess36]

It's out! Thank you for all your help. I think it was fine all along, I just got nervous because it pipped at the wrong end. I'm really glad I didn't have to help it. Thank you all, again.