Trauma to eggs just before hatching

[Jenny Sutherland]

Hi! I need your help and advice. We had 1 egg to hatch this morning. Several showing piping. We went outside for a few hours came back in and the cats knocked the incubator on the floor. I immediately picked the eggs up and returned them to the incubator. Most of them look ok. I had one that looked like the shell broke during the fall. It was not chirping. We decided to remove the shell. The chick was still completely attached inside the sak. I have slightly moistened the sak and placed back in the incubator. It was moving, but it is not now. What should I do? Then shell is completely gone, but the chick remains in the sak. I have 1 chick completely hatched and trying to walk around the incubator. Do I take that one out so it does not disturb the chick in the sak? 2 more show piping and chirping.

Thank you!

Jenny

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If you have another brooder to place that chick that has hatched, with the circumstances, that may be a good idea.

Chicks can be amazingly hardy. On one hatching attempt, my kids knocked over the small incubator. 2 eggs broke splat (no hope). One egg I caught in the lid of the incubator as I instinctively made a grab for it. It went whir, whir, whir, whir around and around until it settled at the bottom of the lid. That is the only egg that hatched. (The other incubator had been undisturbed).

The chick that you removed shell, sadly, may be lost. It is generally best to leave things alone as it wasn't quite ready to hatch yet. You can put a moist paper towel over it, but it may not survive.

Hopefully those that have pipped will hatch, and overall, you have a good hatch.

LofMc