Struggling chick on day 25! Please advise:)

[Mattamy]

Hello Hatching friends! This is our 3rd hatch in our homemade incubator which we hand turn. First 2 batches hatched had pretty high success rates....But this batch had temps and humidity up and down throughout. We did have 2 chicks hatch out without much effort on day 21 & 22. This Easter egger pipped with what seems like his wing sticking out....and not at the larger / air sac end, but closer to middle. I could see his beak so I knew he was getting air. I left him be until this morning (20 hours) as he didn't zip or move at all and looked like he was stuck with his wing. Please see pictures. ***My question is what should I do tomorrow if he hasn't made any more progress? It will be 48 hours by noon. He is chirping, especially when I took him out those 3 times to help and wet him down. It is hard to figure out what end he is sitting but I believe he is backwards and his legs are poised to kick out large end? What should we do if he makes it through the night without breaking out. I imagine his ?wing? may be injured...?

It is quite possible I intervened too early as while I was chiping away so carefully just the shell, i hit a tiny bit of blood, so it seems he hadn't absorbed his yolk and blood vessels yet. I did put him back in the incubator really fast and he seemed to recover....

Thanks for your ideas and sharing your experiences!

 

[MonicaWA]

If it were me, I would just go in and take him out. Day 25 is very late. If there is bleeding, go fast and detach the cord and put some Betadine to stop the bleeding at the belly button and kill any bacteria. I just hatched 28 chicks and on day 22 I helped the last 4 out. I went in and took the chicks out. I didn't lose any. One hadn't even pipped on the outside, just in the inner membrane. One felt cold and was kind of gasping but after spending 1/2 hour with the blow dyer heating it up (not too hot!) and drying it off, it was just fine. Just my opinion and I am sure many would disagree, but waiting and waiting made me lose more chicks then just going in and taking then out. I believe bacteria has a chance of growing over longer periods of time. If it dies, at least you tried to give it a chance.

 

[Mattamy]

Thanks for the advice! I did take the chick out and finished getting her shell off in stages....put her back in bator. The other eggs weren’t hatching and were starting to rot plus she was drying out very slowly due to the humidity, so after she was in there about 10 hours i put her into a brooder with temps close to 100 till she dried. She is unable to walk at all and can barely put weight on her legs. One leg was above her head and the other down below like normal when i freed her from the she’ll yesterday around 11:30. I realize you shouldn't do that as they need to kick out...but you know the story from my first post

We coban-vet taped her legs together last night as she was trying to move around more and always chirping. Today she has gone downhill....panting quite a bit (i lowered temps down to 95 now, duh since she cant move around, and that seemed to stop the panting) Have tried to give her water by dipping her beak slightly into water. And she makes this clapping sound with her beak afterwards-showing no interest in water...but i imagine day olds don't typically need water or food yet?

I am obviously a huge novice at this and first two batches did NOT assist. I am regretting the decision to assist now since she is worrying me so much (NOT something to do with cancer in the bod)

But she is now my cute responsibility since i hatched her...we also made a holder that she spent time in here and there throughout last 20 hours.

Any suggestions on how to help her?
I’ve attached a recent picture from today...

 

[MonicaWA]

She probably absorbed her yolk days ago and needs some nutrition. Do you have Nurtri-drench or maybe just some sugar water with vitamins that you can give her in her beak, just little drop by drop?

 

[MonicaWA]

Don't feel bad. You gave her the best chance you could and she would have died in that shell for sure. If you feel too stressed or that she is a suffering you can cull her and have no guilt about it. Hatching chicks can be stressful for sure! I am sure she is very weak. If she absorbed her yolk at 21 days, then she is way past the 3 days they can go without food and water.

 

[Chicken Chat]

I agree with MonicaWA. I think you needed to assist. If the others hatched at 21 and 22 then her weak condition is probably due to struggling to get out. I'm a fan of the Nutri-drench, it has helped some of mine with extreme shipping stress that I thought weren't going to make it. You can give a drop in the beak a couple times a day for vitamins and some energy. I even have resorted to dropping raw egg yolk in the beak, anything to get some food into them. Good luck with your little one.

 

[RodNTN]

I agree with the Nutri-Drench suggestion, it is great for weak chickens So glad you got him out in time!

 

[Plumfig]

She’s a little beauty, I don’t have good advice, not enough experience, but I hope something nutritive helps her along. Good luck with your tiny fluffy joy.