What Should I Do?

[nonseq]

OK. I posted here before about the egg my broody hen accidentally broke when I messed with her. I put the egg in the incubator, and it is still moving and kicking. It's been in the incubator since Wed. Well the eggs under the hen have started to hatch. She's managed to suffocate those chicks. So maybe the chick missing a third of it's shell is actually the lucky one.

My question is, should I help that chick out? It's alive. It's kicking. It should be hatching, but it's been hampered by a broken shell.

 

[Julie08]

you think it should be hatching just because the other ones are or did it pip? is there shell for it to pip, a pic would be helpful. The membrane is all intact still?

 

[nonseq]

How do I get pics on here?

 

[FenDruadin]

Click on "uploads" in the blue bar at the top of the page to upload pictures. Then you copy & paste the URL into your message.

I would give it a little longer to pip. Pictures would be helpful, but can you describe where on the shell the damage is? Is it over the air cell? Can you see into the egg? What percentage of the shell is damaged, and is it just crushed or are parts of the shell missing?

 

[nonseq]

All the shell over the air cell is gone. The big end of the egg is gone. I just tried to get pics up, and I don't know what I did wrong. I'll try again. There is extensive cracking on both sides of the egg. Yet the chick is active.

 

[FenDruadin]

Wow! That's a lot of damage, lol. Sounds like the baby is fine, but I bet you're going to have to help. I would think that membrane would get pretty dried out and tough with so much of it exposed. If it were me, I'd figure out where the little one's beak is, and and poke a hole in the membrane right there. When the chick is ready, it can poke its little beak out and breathe. Eventually it will probably push itself out just like it would if the cap were off the egg from having been zipped off. I think. Anyway, if it's active in there, it's probably going to be fine. That's just what I would do.

 

[biddybird]

Whoa,

that is one lucky little chick. How long have you had it in the bator? Just curious of what stage she was at. I'm learning so much on this site. I would have never thought it would have continued to grow. Nice thing to know in case of an accident!!
Good Luck and let us know how she does.

 

[nonseq]

I poked a little hole by its beak. It had been poking and poking its beak against the membrane. It fiddled around until it found it. I left it in the incubator. I went back and, it was dead.

My one happy healthy week old chick my other hen hatched and was raising escaped the coop and the dog ate it. In front of my kids.

I'm thinking live illustration of the life cycle of birds is beyond me.

 

[FenDruadin]

I'm so so sorry. I hope I didn't give you bad advice. I feel responsible... maybe someone else will have insight. I'm so sorry for all your losses.

 

[nonseq]

I think you gave me good advice. I was thinking along those same lines.

It's just been a crappy day.

Chickenardo is still sitting on four eggs, and there are still three in the incubator. So there is hope, right?

I feel bad for the Red Hen. Every so often she starts calling for that chick. The poor thing. And I can tell she wants the dog dead. She keeps lunging against the fence at it.