What went wrong with my last baby chick?

[Dentedjaw]

Hey everyone, I need some answers and could use your help. I just hatched some eggs and 5 are perfect and healthy but I lost the sixth one last night and I really need to know where I went wrong.

He/she pipped along with the other 5 but then took a lot longer to unzip than im used to. I didnt want to mess anything up so i waited patiently for her to do her thing but after 24 hours i figured there was trouble and carefully peeled the shell along the zip line leavi g the membrane intact. There was no blood left in the membrane and she was able to come out.

After putting her back in the incubator i noticed one of her knees was positioned outward and went over her wing rather than her wing over her knee. She also couldnt retract her neck and it seemed to be stuck out in front of her and towards the floor. She kept trying to walk but with her knee out and neck forward she could barely balance.

I think it was splayed legs along with wry neck maybe from being in the egg too long but im not positive. Does this sound right? Is there something i couldve done to have helped her? Any advice for what to do if i ever see this happening again to a baby chick?

 

[mcdze]

not much you can do, occasionally there are weak chicks that dont make it .. all we can do is eliminate as many negative variables as possible when choosing eggs and incubating them, the rest is up to providence .. i always hate to lose them when theyve made it that far, its tough i know ..

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I have a "never assist policy". There's some harsh Darwinism at hatch time and in my experience the ones that can't hatch on their own will have a defect of some kind. It's a struggle to leave them alone because it's so natural to want to help the helpless. Now I try to act like a mother bird and focus on the survivors.