great photos! they are so sweet
congratulations!!!
OMG the crested one is just over the top!
you are right, it looks malpositioned... I see a leg and a foot which should be more toward the bottom small end of the shell.. most likely it will pip on the wrong end, if it is able to pip at all. the danger with that is hitting a vein. seems like when they pip the bottom they always nick a vein. it is good that it's gone over day 21 since a lot of the veins should be receeding by now. some of that will be triggered by breathing air/pipping, however.
it's also possible the chick's head is in between it's legs and the foot is preventing the beak from hitting the shell.. it could even be near the top if it is in that position. just so hard to say where the beak might be.
if you were going to internally pip it, you really need to know where the beak is so you can get it breathing, clear the nostrils, etc. making the internal pip is risky because you could hit a vein. if it bleeds, have cornstarch on hand already. I have a powder stuff called blood stopper it's made for birds and I keep it next to me when i do interventions.
do you see the large purple vein? the purple color indicates that the chick is running out of co2 and needs to breathe air soon. this is what triggers their head banging into the shell to get into the air cell. if the vein were red, that would indicate that the chick is not ready yet. since it is purple or dark red, time is running out.
I have never made the internal pip for a chick and had it live. I have made an internal pip only 1 time, and the chick died anyway. I hit a vein and caused slight bleeding, then I put it back without following through with getting it air. I have resisted intervention, and had it die, only to find it in a position unable to pip (eg foot over the beak, cant make contact w/shell). it sort of boils down to your personal beliefs on intervening with nature, should the chick have died if it was malpositioned, weak, etc.
if you are going to do it, know that it is likely that the chick is going to die if you intervene, AND if you do not, it's almost certain. you could take it a day or 2 overdue and see if it makes the pip on the wrong end of the shell.
can you take it into a pitch dark room and candle it? specifically the abdomen area, between the legs which you can see from the top, I am wanting to know if the yolk is absorbed. you may be able to see a hollow area, this is a graphic from the Goose guide linked in my signature below:
Graphics showing the appearence on candling of the unabsorbed yolk and blood vessels (left) and absorbed yolk and vessels as a 'hollow' void appears (right)
But I'm hoping most hatch.
