What went wrong?

[eanne06]

What happened? 3/5 eggs hatched successfully and without intervention. Pretty sure the 4th egg died pre-lockdown as there was no movement at all when I candled on the 18th, but this egg, the 5th, was doing great at lockdown and was moving a ton on in the incubator on the 20th day. I woke up yesterday to two healthy chicks, one pipped egg that went on to hatch successfully and this one. Possibly started to zip but couldn't finish for some reason? It pipped on the underside of the middle. Could that have prevented it from zipping? The membrane was super dry, but another egg went on to hatch without issue. Did an eggtopsy and I think everything looks right. Can you weigh in? Humidity was between 60-65 as the other eggs hatched.














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[spartacus_63]

You did good. It will likely make it and soon be indistinguishable from it's siblings. If it doesn't make it, it would not have made it had you not assisted.

 

[spartacus_63]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but based on pip location it was likely malpositioned and unable to unzip.
When this happens with mine, I typically assist and have a very good success rate.

 

[Offshoreorca]

How much time should one give for zipping until intervening?
One of my quails (the egg to the left) is taking the long route (zipping on the middle of the egg, and not towards the top). It is still zipping, but have been working on it for 4 hours...

View attachment 2532053

I don't know how it would be for quails, but with chickens I typically intervene after an hour of zipping (if it's truly trying to zip) as they can get stuck sometimes - particularly if it's malpositioned. The fact that the chick started zipping usually means it's ready to come out. Make sure it's actually zipping and not just making the hole a bit larger around the external pip as that happens too.

 

[als77]

That does look like zipping much more in the other photo. You can assist with hatching, but don’t rush and stop if there is any active blood vessels. Chick likely got stuck and it looked like the membrane has dried a lot - perhaps it’s shrink wrapped. If so, it will likely need a full assist.

Pulled it out again and, yeah, the membrane was very tough (not that I have anything to compare with) so I did a full assist. The umbillical cord was bloody, so I put the chick in some wet paper towel and back in the bator. Couldn't see any yolk, but I did see some green stuff (which, from what I have read here, just means that (s)he has deficated). My conclusion is that it was fully ready for popping, but just couldn't because of the unfortunate pip-start

 

[Offshoreorca]

Pulled it out again and, yeah, the membrane was very tough (not that I have anything to compare with) so I did a full assist. The umbillical cord was bloody, so I put the chick in some wet paper towel and back in the bator. Couldn't see any yolk, but I did see some green stuff (which, from what I have read here, just means that (s)he has deficated). My conclusion is that it was fully ready for popping, but just couldn't because of the unfortunate pip-start
View attachment 2532146

I agree. You made the right decision. It was clearer in the second photo that it was struggling and you most certainly would have lost it if you hadn't helped the little one out. Make sure to watch the others for any sign of drying out and try to maintain good humidity in the incubator. Only go into it when needed until most have hatched (for assists and if something looks off).

 

[gimmie birdies]

Just to be clear, not in this case, but when assisting. After a pip (small hole in egg) wait 12 hrs or longer for it to Zip (bigger hole in egg). Sometimes it is resting and still absorbing egg contents.

 

[Offshoreorca]

Just to be clear, not in this case, but when assisting. After a pip (small hole in egg) wait 12 hrs or longer for it to Zip (bigger hole in egg). Sometimes it is resting and still absorbing egg contents.

All good points. I did mention this to @als77 much earlier in the thread as I wasn't sure from the first photos if it was actually zipping or not (the last photo makes it more evident that the membrane was dry and tough). It is never a good thing to rush assistance unless you are certain of what the problems are and willing to take a calculated risk - so many people have killed chicks that probably would have survived if they wouldn't have intervened. That's why the suggestion for inexperienced hatchers is to be hands off for the hatch

 

[Pequena ave]

Things like this just happen, sad to see sometimes. Maybe the other hatchlings bumped it from right side up and it just wasn’t able to move around in its shell, looks like it could have been shrink wrapped. It was trying to unzip but couldn’t wiggle around in its shell. I do assist in some cases if that is the case, sometimes it’s just too late. Rip little one.

 

[Offshoreorca]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but based on pip location it was likely malpositioned and unable to unzip.
When this happens with mine, I typically assist and have a very good success rate.

x2 I would agree with this - makes it hard for them to successfully zip on their own.