Trying To Help A Chicken Egg Hatch

[Southernbell]

Hello! I'm new to actually registering myself into Backyard Chickens, I usually just read other peoples situations that are simular to mine. but anyways, i have a big problem with some chicks I'm trying to hatch from an incubater(since I dont have a broody hen)...I've tried helping one of my eggs that WAS chirping, and stopped chirping and just moved from time to time...I read on here that if its been more than 21 days then I need to interfere and try to help it to hatch...well, I listened to them(which I dont know was the right thing to do), and so NOW, all I have is an opened egg, but the situation is not like any other that I've ever heard of, I made an opening in the blunt end where the air pocket is, and ive taken away the top part of the egg, so now my egg is topless, and when i mist my eggs, that egg that I've interfered with, on the membrane(I'm guessing is the white part), the membrane turns from white to clear and I can see a very small part of the chick inside and around it is yellow *stuff*, which idk if its the birds fluffy part, or yolk that still ahs'nt absorbed into the chick, but I think I might have interfered too much. This is my first time hatching eggs at all. I WAS going to let one of my"what seemed broody" hens sit on it, but she would'nt, even if it was putting off heat. So I had no choice but to buy an incubater and incubate them. In the opening in the egg, you can see it moving aroynd in there...but im scared ive messed with it too much and I need someone elses opinion on what to do, or maybe some information on what you think might happen, or if you think what I've done was wrong or right....I'm lost..

and scared that I've killed the others by making them too cold by messing with the interfered one. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and if you need any more information at all on the subject, I would be glad to answer them! Sorry I had to make this so long! LOL

 

[Sphinx]

I've never had to help a chick out, so I have no idea.

Maybe you should post a picture, and the more experienced ones will chime in?

 

[julia39]

just keep it humid so the membrane doesnt dry out....think as long as the chick is moving it might.....key word might survive....and dont mess with it anymore unless someone withmore experience than me tells you too...I am new here too but have read that they can go a few days over...what were your temps and humidity??

 

[Southernbell]

well, idk about humitity, but i pour water in it every day and mist the eggs fairly often. the temp is 99.5, but lowers when I open it for a while, the lowest it has gotton while I've messed with the eggs has been about 80-90 degrees, but I've heard that if its warm in the room, and the temp is'nt that low for more than an hour, then I should'nt have to worry about them dying from being too cold, and Idk

how to post pics....got some instructions for dor dummies?

 

[ladyomaha]

to post pics is best to get a photobucket acct. Upload pics and at the bottom of each picture is a link, click that and it copies and paste here. Easier if we can see wht is going on. If you had to much water, they might have drowned, or shrink wrapped possibly. I am learning as well....

from Kansas

 

[Southernbell]

hi again, I have been leaving it alone today, and so far, Im pretty sure that it is gettijng ready to hatch because it moved into a diff position like it was turning around

 

[Pele]

It is not advisable to ever interfere with hatching, actually. Eggs can take up to 24 days to hatch on their own, so there is no emergency or need for help at day 21. It sounds like your chick was not ready to hatch, as you mentioned that it just now has changed positions to attempt hatching.

I know it sounds a bit heartless, but you do more damage than good when you interfere in a hatch. You can tear the membrane and cause the chick to bleed out, when all it needed was some extra time. They don't have calanders and watches like we do, so they have their own schedule.

Also, even if a chick DOES need help hatching, it's inadvisable to give in. Most of the time, when they fail hatching, it's because they have a defect and were never meant to live. Not only that, but if your chick lives because of your interferance, you are encouraging a trait in your birds that is fatal. If you help every genetically weak chick out of the shell, then you end up with a frail and unhealthy breed that can't reproduce naturally.

It is a test of will not to help out, but it really is for the best.

 

[sonew123]

I would not intervene at day 21 at all...STEP AWAY FROM THE bator!!!! I just read your other thread and commented that you are interferring too much-do not open the bator.

I was a first timer a long time ago and WISH I would have taken experienced hatchers advice-I didnt and interferred-with terrible consequences. Your temps should be at 99.5 and 102..your humidity should be at 65-75% right now..Everytime you open the bator you change the hatching environment. Leave them alone for at least the next 24 hours-do nothing..go for WALK-clean... anything but mess with the eggs....It gets easier as you gain experience and learn some hard lessons...I hope you wind up having a great hatch in the next day or so...

 

[Southernbell]

okay, and thank you for the advice! I will follow your advice...and sorry I typed wrong, when I said it was 21st day, i meant 22nd....my other post was made a day later than this one, and today is the 23rd day for my christmas eggs!

YAY!! I just now realized that if they hatch tomorrow I will have christmas eggs!! YAY

 

[lotzahenz]

Just a note: If the membrane dries out, the chick will NOT be able to break through it. It will become tough and rubber like. If you do NOT see any vessels there, you can poke a hole in it, but only as a last resort, right where you see the beak moving about. I am guessing that if your chick does not hatch soon, as in hours it will be lost. So, since you have maybe opened the bator too much, you may need to look up the post on here with photos on how to extract the chick from the egg. If the chick is not active, I'd go ahead now and break that tough membrane, because it is NOT a weak chick, but an unnatural occurrence because of your previous intervening. I often crack the egg shell for a late chick like that IF I have opened the bator more than I should of. You can crack the shell and bit by bit pick it off, but do a little then wait. IF you see even a speck of blood you are too early and need to leave it be for several more hours. At this late stage, the yolk should be absorbed and the chick past ready to hatch, it just has too tough a shell/membrane to get through.

Good luck, post a pic through your bator window if you can and it will be easier to decide if it is time to intervene.