please help

[anne baughan]

i have started to help a chick out of the shell i dont know whether to proceed as i can see blood i am keeping the membrane moist, what should i do now

 

[Poetical Peeps]

If you see blood, set the egg down for an hour or so. If it has not hatched on its own in this time, go ahead and take a tweezers and carefully break the shell (not the membrane) in the same zipping pattern a chick naturally makes, all the way around. Try to let the chick do as much work on its own as possible.

Just make sure you keep a clear airway to its beak at all times.

If it still fails to hatch, slowly tear the membrane. Anytime you see a gush of blood, set the egg down and leave it for a while. Encourage the chick to push itself free with its own strength, if possible. If you notice flowing blood where the umbilical cord has detached, apply pressure to the area for a few moments till it stops.

 

[anne baughan]

still not out of shell and i am keeping the membranes moist,chick is alive and chirping i thought id lose it through the night keeping the humidity high in incubator i have chipped away half way round shell but not broken the membrane should i break it a bit or leave it ive read it may suffocate,thanks for your reply

 

[phoenix912]

Did it Pip on its own to begin with? If it did there should be a hole in the membrane. Can you still see veins where you have zipped the shell? If the veins are still dark and full of blood its not ready.

 

[Poetical Peeps]

I am still not clear why you're intervening with this hatch? Was it taking a long time? I'm sure you probably know it can take an agonizingly long time from pip to hatch sometimes... sorry if I'm just stating the obvious here.

Make a small snip in the membrane. If you see bright red blood, set the egg back down for a while. If you don't see blood, continue snipping till you either see blood (take a break whenever you see blood) or have completely cut the full circle of membrane. If you get this far and the chick isn't pushing, set it down for a while and give it a rest. Sometimes they need a moment for the circulatory system to adjust. If it doesn't seem to be able to hatch itself from this point, hatch it into your hand -- be prepared to stop bleeding from the cord site (steady pressure for a few moments) if it is bleeding. If it has required a lot of assistance, it will not have built up the same physical strength as a chick that did all the work on its own. For this reason, you will also want to make sure to set aside some sort of "quarantine" area till it starts moving around well, so you won't be introducing a feeble chick in with a bunch that are much stronger.

 

[anne baughan]

it started pipping nearly four days ago its almost out now all membrane clipped tiny amount of blood left to rest now chirping away all its mates hatched 3 days ago so i thought id help did one once before but no blood that time im shaking like a leaf.

 

[anne baughan]

yes it pipped alone nearly 4 days now, and no blood vessels showing just tiny bit of blood leakage left it to rest now thanks for your help

 

[anne baughan]

chick now out but cord attached

 

[redmouse]

Is the cord still attatched to the shell? I had one little peeper hatch like that and drag some of his insides out because he was struggling and pulling at it (don't mean to scare you, just offering some experience!) so if he's still stuck to the shell by the cord, either try pinching the cord with your finger nails or blunt tweesers, (I don't like to cut because you have a chance to leave to heal a bit more if it bleeds when you pinch it whereas if you cut it, there's no going back) if it's pale and not filled with blood, or keep the shell held near to the navel until it pales off and then you can pinch it. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Poetical Peeps]

Yes -- I wanna know how your chick is doing!

At least one in my last hatch dragged its shell around like redmouse is describing. Not sure what the proper thing to do there is (seems like most times you just have to wing it). I sanitized my hands (or I am going to claim I did... I forget

) and pinched off the cord to free the shell, leaving the cord to dangle a while from the chick. Other times, when the cord has been dangling with no bonus hatch leftovers, I've let it work itself out... just as long as other chicks aren't allowed to peck at it and there's nothing the cord will catch on and get violently torn away from the chick.

One of my help-outs last time (a Speckled Sussex) I am convinced would not have survived if I hadn't intervened. I thought at first its trouble was due some error on my part -- unstable humidity or something -- but it really did need help all the way through -- even coming out of the shell. When it did emerge, its cord tore off prematurely at the base and I thought it was going to bleed out. I applied pressure for a few moments and gave it a special quarantine basket in the incubator till it was able to stand, encouraged it to sip at some water. Now, seeing it next to my other three Sussex that hatched that day (now three weeks old), the help-out is less than half the size of the others and it's obvious something is a bit off about it. Hoping it's a pullet, as we don't have room for many roos -- especially not poor breeders.

More than you needed to know. I don't have many "real life" people to overwhelm with my chicken obsession. Sigh.