Two eggs pipped but I dont know if they can get out!!

[Pastel the Rooster]

So I've had six Guinea fowl for a good amount of time and my two females lay me amazing eggs. But with -2 days ( it's been a couple days past 0) and with decent pip on one and a small-ish pip on the other, I'm really worried. Last time I incubated Guinea eggs, I helped two out and they ended up dying early... So now I'm terrified to help, but I wanna save the babys life. Please help! I'm trying to regrow my Confusion (Fun Fact: Guinea fowl flocks are called Confusions) All I wanna do is get more guineas, and I dont want to need to spend a handful of money on animals that will just (pretty much) commit their own type of suicide.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

So I've had six Guinea fowl for a good amount of time

I started out with 16, and I only gave one away..... the others are in Guinea/ bird heaven...

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

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How long have they been pipped? The upper one is partially zipped. If the zipped one is stuck for several hours, I would go ahead and help. Yolk and blood vessels should be absorbed if they are zipping so assisting that one should be low risk. Sometimes the membranes get too dry for them to finish zipping. What’s your humidity at? Also, yes assisting can do more harm than good. My general philosophy of assisting: if you are assisting, the deck may be stack against you anyway, but at least you have a chance of success if you help. So my rule of thumb is to help pipped keets after 24 hours, zipped keets after about two hours. Have you read the guide to assisted hatching? I linked it below. Also, there is an active assistance thread under the Incubation forum. Best of luck!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

How long have they been pipped? The upper one is partially zipped. If the zipped one is stuck for several hours, I would go ahead and help. Yolk and blood vessels should be absorbed if they are zipping so assisting that one should be low risk. Sometimes the membranes get too dry for them to finish zipping. What’s your humidity at? Also, yes assisting can do more harm than good. My general philosophy of assisting: if you are assisting, the deck may be stack against you anyway, but at least you have a chance of success if you help. So my rule of thumb is to help pipped keets after 24 hours, zipped keets after about two hours. Have you read the guide to assisted hatching? I linked it below. Also, there is an active assistance thread under the Incubation forum. Best of luck!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

I ended up helping it, but I could tell if it was suffering... I needed to cull it and it was the worst thing I had ever seen in my life, besides my dog being put down... I was going to do it, but I did not have the guts to, so my mom did, and now I wish I did because she started crying and started saying " this is the first animal I have ever killed" and I felt so bad and I was crying... the one with the bottom pip is out and walking in the incubator, but has a malformed foot. Its foot is like curved, so I am going to see if it survives, but I may just give it to the mom and see what she does with it because its gonna be lonely. The humidity is at 70-78.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

How long have they been pipped? The upper one is partially zipped. If the zipped one is stuck for several hours, I would go ahead and help. Yolk and blood vessels should be absorbed if they are zipping so assisting that one should be low risk. Sometimes the membranes get too dry for them to finish zipping. What’s your humidity at? Also, yes assisting can do more harm than good. My general philosophy of assisting: if you are assisting, the deck may be stack against you anyway, but at least you have a chance of success if you help. So my rule of thumb is to help pipped keets after 24 hours, zipped keets after about two hours. Have you read the guide to assisted hatching? I linked it below. Also, there is an active assistance thread under the Incubation forum. Best of luck!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Thank you so much for the advice! I have had very bad luck at hatching eggs, so I'm probably just going to buy some fancy colors that I want.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Thank you so much, Mixed Flock Enthusiast! That article was very helpful so now I know what to do!!

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Problem is, I don't know what a Zip is... I'm sorry! I'm very new to poultry!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Problem is, I don't know what a Zip is... I'm sorry! I'm very new to poultry!

I’m so sorry that didn’t go so well! What’s happening with your surviving keet? @Sydney65 has successfully raised solo keets and could give you some tips.

As for terminology, there is an internal pip where the beak pops into the air cell. You didn’t see that externally so it’s something you see by candling. There’s an external pip, where the beak breaks through the shell. You’ll see a crack in the shell at that point. When the keet has absorbed all yolk and blood vessels, then it starts to zip, where it turns in the egg and makes holes all the way around so it can throw the egg open and hatch.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

The keet is walking around the incubator pecking it to get to me! Its foot is a little bent, but it has straitened out for the most part. I am going to probably get some chicks from TSC for company for the baby! I kinda figured a zip us where they turn around. The alive one did not zip out of the shell so I needed to pull the shell off and let it fall out onto my hand, so I'm just gonna say it hatched I'm my hand! Thank you so much for the help! I wouldn't have been able to do it without you! I am vending down and the keet is up high and so its peeping for me! So cute! Thanks!