Urgent advice needed hatching chick

[GardenDmpls]

What does zipping mean? I have never hatched any chicks.

Pipping is where the chick pecks a hole in the shell. Zipping is where it continues to peck from that point around the shell until it is divided in half. Then it pushes the halves of the shell apart with its head and its feet and hatches. The gunk described sounds like the allantois, which is a storage sack for the little bit of waste the chick produces in the egg (similar to meconium in human babies which is retained in the intestine but can be released before birth). It is left behind in the shell when the chick hatches. The kicking around before hatching may have torn it open so its contents leaked out.

 

[Shelfred]

Aw thank you! He's completely out of the shell, is alive and wriggling around a bit on his side but not looking too good almost looks like his wing is stuck on his one side, when I touched it whatever the goo is was rock solid and there's patches of that hard stuff all over him. He's warm and safe so just going to let him rest and hope he perks up. No movement on the other eggs but the other 2 chicks are full of life and keeping us smiling! x

I just saw this thread tonight. Did the chick survive? My last batch I had to assist 4 chicks. The eggs were from a friend so maybe they had the air sac issue. Membranes were thick and dry so possibly humidity but others in the batch hatched in less time with no issues. Anyway, what we did was insert a very stiff piece of wire through a vent hole in the incubator. We gently tore at the membrane and let the chick work for awhile, when some shell fell off we loosened more of the membrane. They had pipped probably a day and a half prior but could not fully zip. The shell was coming off but the membrane seemed to be thick and dry. We helped this way, not opening the incubator, letting the chick “labor”. They all eventually got out, were very tired, took a long time to dry and fluff. All are healthy now. We put them under a broody hen to be raised.

A 5th chick was assisted the same way, I would say she was shrink wrapped, membranes were stuck to her, dry and crusted, she looked pathetic, very small but a real fighter. I used castor oil to soften the membrane, took awhile for it to come off but eventually did but she still looked sad, wouldn’t fluff up, ate and drank very little. Finally after several days I washed the oil off with Dawn, she began to fluff but she was quite a bit behind all the others in development. Figured she would either live or die. Finally got her under the mom with the others, 9 all together. This hen is the best Momma. At one point I discovered pasty butt on her, that looked bad, I rubbed her vent and pulled on the poop too hard, she tore and bled. Put Neosporine on her butt and put her back. 9 weeks old now, she’s smaller than the others but she holds her own and is doing great. So far she looks like a hen but the jury is still out. All that to say that we did assist but kept the chicks inside the bator, just tore away the membranes, didn’t peel any shells. In the past I intervened more and the chicks didn’t make it. The pushing and stretching seems to be necessary and all of the yoke needs to be absorbed. They worked then rested then worked some more until they were out. It seems strange that so many of them had issues. I suspect that the readout on the incubator was incorrect. Temperature and humidity were both too low. Took about 23 days. I bought a hygrometer that I hope, is accurate. That was my last hatch of the season and the most difficult. Being raised by the hen was the best.
Seeing those little chicks is sweet but I’m done for now.

 

[PattieTheDuck]

Did it hatch?

 

[Almosta Farm]

Did the chick survive?

 

[sarav]

Yes, want verdict??? Did baby make it???