not zipping

[vpeterson]

My chick has been struggling all night to make his pip hole bigger.He is getting quite a large hole now. But he is not zipping around the egg. Will he be able to get out by continuing to work on that hole to make it larger. I am resisting helping him but I worry because he has been struggling a long time and it is day 23. He is late.

 

[nivtup]

So,

Were there others in the hatch? Have they all hatched and this is a straggler?

If so, I would think it might be time to consider helping. Usually a big hole means the chick cannot turn.

BE VERY CAREFUL. The chick might just not be ready to go, this is a time to go slow, watch very closely for veins and any potential bleeding.

If there were no others that hatched ahead of it, I would be very very cautious about helping.


Good luck!!

 

[vpeterson]

There was one other chick which hatched yesterday. It was a late hatch. I think that my temps were not high enough. They are bantam polish and bantam wyandottes. I think that I have one other egg which I saw slightly rocking yesterday that may still hatch also.

 

[vpeterson]

The hole is big enough for him to almost stick his whole head out but the rest of the egg is solid. I don't think that he will be able to twist around to zip.

 

[vpeterson]

OK, so I read the info on helping hatch the egg and went ahead and intervened. My husband poked holes around the egg making a complete circle. The shell was very hard. NO BLOOD! that was a good sign I think. The chick is back in the hatcher waiting to see if it can break apart the two halves on its own.
what else should I do?

 

[onthespot]

was he stuck to the shell? You can check by just moving him around a tiny bit like you are trying to get him out of the shell, but don't pull him out. If he moves a bit in relation to the shell, he is probably not stuck. If he is, dampen around the broken edges with a wet q-tip and hopefully he can get out. At least he is not suffocating. Is he peeping and vigorous? Sometimes low incubator temps cause foot deformities that you dont' really want to hatch out, just to have to cull the same day. It is kind of a toss up. Since he made a big hole, I would give him credit and help a tiny bit. No blood is a good sign. Good luck, post pics if you can. We are rooting for you and your chick!

 

[Andora]

I had this problem before in a hatch. I chipped away enough so that the head was exposed, then moistened the white looking membranes with a warm q-tip all around the chick's body, then let it rest for about half an hour, then chipped away a little more. I've found that usually you see blood towards the butt of the chick, where everything has to be absorbed, if it's not ready to hatch yet.

I helped several chicks hatch this way when my humidity got screwed up, and they are all perfectly fine! I had one die of a leg deformity, but it hatched on its own. For some reason the yolk wasn't absorbed much at all with that chick.

 

[onthespot]

any updates?