Should I assist this hatch any further?

[JenMoutz]

I'm a newbie to hatching and I need HELP, imagine that! I had a chick pip during the early hours of Tuesday morning (between 12am and 6am) I checked on it many times through out the day and it had its beak at the pip hole the whole time occasionally trying to wiggle and peck at the whole to get out, but obviously would not fit. I did not see any progress until around 12am Wednesday morning when I was contemplating helping the little guy he decided to make his hole a little larger so I figured it was safe to go to bed and he would hatch on his own. BUT when I woke up this morning he had made no more progress at all so I decided to help a small amount by removing some of the shell and wetting the membrane. That was 4 hours ago and still nothing. I can still easily see him breathing and hear him peeping but I'm afraid he's stuck. My hesitation to helping is I still see a few blood vessels in the navel area. I have done loads of research and know that touching the vessels are a no no but it seems all the info is referring to vessels near the air sack. Are the vessels near the navel area just as sensitive? Do I need to wait till they dry up to?? Please help! Here are a few pictures so you can see what I mean. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[chickydee64]

Sorry you did not get feedback sooner.............Hope all is well with your chick...
You were on the right track to stop when you saw blood.................
I would have advised you to wait it out............would be great o hear it hatched OK.

I don't know how others do it.but when I assist..( not often) I go around the egg.
The same as it would if it were zipping. Sometimes return it to the incubator and just wait.............
It usually finishes itself if not stuck........

Oh, and welcome................

 

[JenMoutz]

Thanks for the reply. Since I didn't get a reply from anyone yesterday I left him alone on the wet paper towel in the incubator. I woke up this morning and he had hatched during the night. I was so happy until I saw he had some unabsorbed yolk sac hanging from his navel, about the size of a garbanzo bean. He seemed fine, active and chirping but I figured it wasn't good so I did some research and found a site that said to clean the area with Betadine and put back in the incubator on a wet paper towel. A few hours later he was laying down, not chirping and it looked like the yolk sac had leaked so I did what some people have done and wrapped him in a wet paper towel and placed him in a cup in the incubator (i now wish I would have done this first). I really hope that works but I fear the worst! I feel like I should have never intervened but I got so anxious when he wasn't making any progress. Plus the first two that pipped had died before hatching so I was extra worried! I have 2 healthy little guys that I placed in the brooder so they would leave him alone and I have another due to hatch at any moment plus four more that haven't pipped yet but still show movement. I think I've learned my lesson but unfortunately the hard way. Please say a little prayer for my little guy and I'll hopefully be posting again with news that he made a full recovery!!