Pip close to pointy end day 19

[only1bgirl]

Yes I'm kind of frozen really, stayed up way too late watching the chicks hatch. Fighting the incubator to stay at a stable temperature, which could be a source of some of this problem. I'm trying the tube method as I really do not want to assist. This one pipped and zipped about an eigth inch but the membrane is still over it, which is better than the last who made a snall round hole through everything. The two chicks are good almost dry and having fun bowling the other eggs around.

 

[only1bgirl]

In the brooder now, this makes it all worth it! Other eggs are rocking still so maybe we'll have a couple more.

 

[only1bgirl]

Another hatched and I assisted the other pointy pipper, the membranes were dried out. Up flipping around drying in the incubator and very vocal.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Congrats on your chicks. Your right it is all worth it in the end when you see them chirping about the brooder. I have some In incubator on day 8 and can't wait already I even got the brooder box out today which is far too early. Must have looked at the incubator a thousand times even though nothing happening.. Keep us posted on how they get on

 

[only1bgirl]

They are so cute! The assisted chick took about 30 hours to get her posture, was worried about spraddle legs, turns out she is just a chub and it took awhile to get her strength up. Her hatch mate has a curled under toe though, keep trying to splint it but it shakes it off.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Lovely chick . Really does make it worth while.:yiipchick

 

[Strader]

Peeping and resting, slowly pulled more shell and membrane off and got a better look, feet are pushed up against up air cell. Found blood around side of head so stopped, not seeing any yolk left either. Waiting, watching and hoping the other seven chicks are not in this position.

My advice is leave it alone. To many are all for wanting to help it and opening the incubator to help one and then risk things happening to all others. Opening your incubator makes the exposed membranes stick to the chick. If it had issues then thats nature, but let nature rake its course and leave them alone. Read the Texas A& M university posting on hatching.

 

[only1bgirl]

This has been done for a long time, @Strader

 

[only1bgirl]

It is good to wait till the others have hatched before you go intervening. But if you have one that's been pipped for days in an odd place and the others have hatched it's worth a try to save it. These styrobators have a tendency to heat spike and chicks growing too big to hatch properly on their own. The boy in my case was huge and turned into a beautiful healthy bird. I hatched eggs he sired under a broody hen and they hatched perfectly!

 

[Ugadano]

I have a mess. I have multiple eggs that were added to a setting hen's clutch, so no way to know what day/stage they are at. The hens traded spots a time or 2, so there are 3 chicks hatched already and that hen has stopped brooding the remainder. I brought them in to my really sorry attempt at an incubator to try to finish the remaining 3 eggs. Worst planned chickraising scheme ever!

okay, now that that is out of the way, one of the 3 remaining eggs looked like it got stepped on or otherwise smacked on one side, when I found it there was a miniscule spot of dried blood on the membrane and lots of shell fragments gone from around the edge. Chick is alive and peeping. I'm trying to keep humidity high, misting. covering, keeping warm. I do have a combo temp/humidity gauge in there, but it has been drier than 30% occasionally, and I try to bring it up to 65 or more. Really bad setup, I know. What can I do to help this chick, how would I know to stop assisting if he's not ready, and how long can they be peeping ahead of final hatching readiness? Thanks for swallowing your disgust at my ineptitude! Feel free to chew me out along with advice, I promise not to be offended!