Question on partially hatched chick- Updated with pictures!

siometimes it takes 24 hours or longer i would leave it alone as long as it sounds strong help only if you have to

 

Once part of the shell is gone it is hard for them to hatch. The moisture is gone from within and they have no support against which to turn themselves. If the chick does not progress in 6 or so more hours you might consider getting it out of there. I had to do just that day before yesterday. My baby had been under a broody but she kept leaving the egg uncovered and it was pipped for over 24 hours. Nothing had changed and I knew it was dry. I brought in inside and set up the incubator real quick and left it alone for the day and night but I went ahead and helped it all the way out in the end. The internal membrane was dry as cardboard and encasing the chick. There was not way it could have moved around to finish the hatch. Once the shell is open it is extremely difficult to keep it from getting to dry to continue to hatch. Even placing it on a damp towel did not work. Good Luck.

 

I noticed if there's anything on their eyelids they won't attempt to open them. Try wiping them off with a damp warm paper towel.

Some chicks will have stiff necks from the hatching muscle used to break the shell being tight. This muscle goes away as they age. I have one right now that hatched out with that problem. It kept flipping over backward, can't move it's neck very well, and it's feet were all curled. It's whole body felt stiff when I flipped it over. During the past few hours since hatching it has slowly gained more ability to move and hasn't gotten stuck on it's back in the past 30mins. It's wobbling around with the other 2 pretty well. Just give it time. Especially since you helped it hatch instead of it going through the normal motions.

 

When it takes a good while to hatch sometimes they take a while to get their land legs. The one I helped out, seemed to be very wobbly even after it was completely dried off. I left it with a mommy hen and by the morning it is fine.

I agree about the warm water possibly on a q-tip to clean the eye area. I would see how it is doing by this morning before giving to much in the way of vitamins straight. You might try some vitamin and electrolytes in the water and just dip its beak in the water several times during the day. The baby does not need anything in the way of nutrients yet. It will be fine with the yolk just absorbed for up to three days. I hope your little one is up and about this morning and show no sign of the struggle it had. Sometimes the things you mentioned are the reason it did not complete the hatch to start with.

The hard part of helping a chick is knowing that they may not have hatched due to a weakness or infirmity that prevented it from completing the task of hatching by itself. In some cases they are just not going to be ok and will possibly not make.

 

PBJ- How's the chick this morning? I have had others that were "slow waking up" and those were the ones that had difficulty hatching. I think it will be fine with time.

The only one I had that was hatched under a broody was very reluctant to open it's eyes. The hen kept tossing it out of the nest and even though we brought it in and put it in the brooder, it died within 12 hours. Must have been something wrong that we couldn't see. Now, I'm not sayin' that's going to happen to yours!!

I agree that if there is anything around their eyes, they won't even try to open them.

 

Did you try wiping his eyes with a damp cloth? I had to do that to several chicks that were shipped to me--they looked just like yours.
I had to do it several times as they would just goo up again--not really thick or heavy goo, just like sleep in their eyes. I was gentle but I did rub it a bit. Then they would pop open and the chick would just seem so excited to see again!

Try it and see if it helps.

Also, my one chickie hatched out yesterday with a club-looking foot. Today it has taken shape and she's walking around just fine.

Hope yours does too!