Peep! Peep!

[Teila]

Tee hee Annie .. deep breaths

If hatching and the wonderment of new life ever gets dull, I know that is time for me to give up hatching … never gunna happen!

Any hatch is exciting! (Yep, nerve wracking also

)

Come on bubbies; you can do this!!

 

[AnnieSantiago]

Here is mama on her nest.
I hope she doesn't smother those chicks.
There are at least two coming out of the shell.
I'm going to bed...
Hopefully I'll have live chicks in the morning

 

[AnnieSantiago]

Well, I'm bummed. I went to bed all excited thinking I'd have chicks this morning.
But I just checked and this is what I found.
This little (very warm) but very dead chick didn't make it.
It was one of the Marans

I just moved the hen enough to get a quick look at the eggs and didn't see any other hatched eggs.

So now I guess I just wait.

Sad - I had to REALLY look to be sure this chick was dead b/c it was so warm.

 

[SteffyJ]

Hi there, sorry to bump in on your thread but I am looking for some advice... I have an egg that has pipped but not through the membrane. Do I leave it or make a hole in the membrane. It's been a few hours

 

[AnnieSantiago]

Steffy, I have no experience, but I've done a LOT of research in the past 24 hours and the consensus is to just leave the egg alone.
If the chick is viable, it will make it on itself and sometimes it can take 12-24 hours from this stage.
I think you can injure the chick by helping it.
There is a great tutorial on this website, btw... I'll see if I can find it again.

 

[AnnieSantiago]

Steffy, here is the article I found on here:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[SteffyJ]

Thank you so much, it's so hard to just sit and watch.

. The chick is chirping and moving around, so... Wait it is

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm really sorry about the chick that died, Annie. I've experienced the same problem myself, and its always hard.

Steffy, I've assisted more than one chick in hatching. If you are worried about the chick not getting air, you can carefully poke a hole in the membrane. Generally there is a little bit of blood, so just dab this away and leave the egg alone. You don't want it to bleed too much, but this gives it the air it needs.

I hope this helps. Best of luck all!

 

[SteffyJ]

Thank you both, I'm worried that the membrane will dry out too much being exposed like that

 

[GitaBooks]

There is a risk of the membrane drying out, but if the chick already can't get through the membrane, it is probably already dry.