Silkies Hatching - Blood In Bator???

[TarHeelBlue]

MY THIRD SILKIE JUST HATCHED, HE IS OUT IN THE BATOR, BUT THERE ARE SPOTS OF BRIGHT RED BLOOD. SHOULD I DO ANYTHING??? IS THIS OK??

 

[Gypsy07]

Little dabs of blood are okay, big dribbles are not. I'd say leave it and see what happens.
Only intervene if the other chicks start pecking at blood on this chick. That's what I'd do...

 

[TarHeelBlue]

Thanks, I have never seen them have blood, it seems to be little dribbles, (but the ones that got on the paper towels I have in for added moisture sure seem big, because they spread.) He looks ok so far, I was just worried about the little guy and it is sooooo hard not to open it up and get him out.

 

[Gypsy07]

I know, it's so hard to just sit and watch. I think sometimes when they zip they peck through a blood vessel and it bleeds a little. And sometimes they have a bit of blood at their umbilical cord. I've ahd that a couple of times and the chicks turned out fine. Good luck with the rest of your hatch!

 

[TarHeelBlue]

I figured out which one was bleeding, one of the other guys was sitting on him and he wasnt moving much. So I slid my hand in and grabbed him, put him under the heat lamp by himself. He looks pretty sad, but still alive. does anybody know anything else I can do for him???

 

[Justuschicks]

Quote:
My silkies just finished hatching today. I had to help a couple of them hatch. I think sometimes they bleed from their cord. On the chicks that I helped, I had to quickly cut the cord and apply a small ammt of pressure to the umbilical area. Mine all started out a little slow. I just let them be and made sure the temp in their area was 95. They all seem to start out slow because hatching is hard work. Good Luck.

 

[TarHeelBlue]

Wish I had caught this one soon enough, I don't think he is going to make it. I will know from now on, I think if I had found him and applied pressure, he might have had a better chance. Thanks for the advice. I'm sure it will help in my later hatches. How long do you let them go after pipping before you help. I have one that is past 24 hours now, and not making any progress.

 

[Justuschicks]

You are really not supposed to help them hatch but I just cant sit there and let them die. Once the shell has a hole in it, things start to dry out so it makes it almost impossible for the little guy to hatch. If it were me and 24 hrs had gone by I would help it hatch. Here is what I do. Take some tweezers and CAREFULLY pick at the shell being careful not to pierce the inner membrane, just the membrane that is under the shell. Once you can see inside, you will see that there is a gap between the shell and the innermost membrane. I carefully and very slowly start to stretch the inner membrane to expose enough of the chicks wing and head. I then carefully free the wing. Have some small sharp scissors ready for this part. After you pull out the wing, I gently grab the beak and free the head. From this point try to get the chick out both gently and quickly. You DO NOT want to pull on the cord. Slowly pull the butt out and quickly cut the cord and apply pressure with a paper towel. I leave mine in the incubator until they are dry. Hope this makes sense. I had to help 3 of my 9 out. The 2 most important things to watch for is cut veins because they can cause the chick to bleed out. Take your time! But once you are pulling it out of the shell, this has to be done fairly quickly because you cant see if anything is bleeding inside the area you cant see. Good Luck.

 

[Justuschicks]

My 9 sweet babies!7 partridge 2 white

 

[gavinandallison]

We hatched 7 silkies out 3 weeks ago...... 1 of ours took over 12 hours, we helped him in the end, the membrane had dried out so much he'd almost given up. So, warm water, a sponge to drip the water onto the membrane, cotton buds and tweezers, and we slowly peeled the stuck shell/membrane off. He had a little drop of blood, we put him back in the incubator and waited. About 5 hours later the little one was dried out, a little weak but has grown stronger and is running around in our stock tank with the other 6......