When to help????UPDATE!

[4everfarmgirl]

I have one egg hatching and it has now been almost 24hrs and it still only has a marble sized hole, which was done yesteday at about 6hrs and it has not progressed since. I am new at hatching and was wanting some advise on what to do. I know people have different views on weather to help them or not. I just don't know what to do?????

 

[princessmama]

If it seems the chick is having trouble because of being dried out you might want to help. What you do not want to do is to help a chick that is really too weak to hatch on it's own.

I recently helped a duckling who made big holes in the egg instead of zipping around. The bit of wing and leg sticking out of the hole when he tried to turn were all dry and fluffed out after nine hours of no progress. His head was down in the small end of the egg. He was peeping loudly and pushing so hard the whole egg was flexing. But the membrane was extremely dry and hard. A little zipping from me and a couple wettings of the membrane and he pushed his own way out. He was very strong and the first duckling to stand up without falling over.

It's really a matter of personal judgement if you help or not.

 

[4everfarmgirl]

We are now 29 hours in and it still has not made any progress. What we can see of the membrane is dry, but our humidity is up. What should we do???????? please help

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Im gonna say open the bator and put a few drops of warm water in the pip hole. If it doesnt hatch in 36 hours help it all the way. I know at least a few are people gonna disagree with me but if you wanna save it that would be at least a shot.

 

[4everfarmgirl]

Thank you BantyGirl I will give that a shot. I was amybe thinking that it may be too big and can't move. It is overdue, so I thought that might be the case. I will try the drops and leave him do his thing and see what happens.............

 

[iheartchkns]

I would say also keep an eye on the chick's breathing if you can see into the holes and see this kind of movement. If it starts to weaken, you might want to start picking the top of the shell VERY CAREFULLY, as the membrane may be stuck to the chick's fuzz. I have done this before, and gently dribbled warm water from a wet sponge over the chick and into the sides of its shell. If the chick's head is in the bottom of the shell, though you want to be careful not to drown it. As you moisten the chick's fuzz, it should start to wiggle more and eventually work its way out of the rest of the shell.

This has been my experience, so I can't promise this will work perfectly in your case. A lot of it is instinct and just saying when at the right time. I wouldn't go past 36 hours, though. I saved two chicks and lost one in this same situation in my hatch this past April. The one I lost I hadn't started picking its shell off, and it died before I made that decision.

 

[4everfarmgirl]

Going tonight to try to save my poor little chick. I hope it all works out! I'll let you know what happens. Wish me luck!

 

[4everfarmgirl]

I am sooooo relieved to say that the little fuzz ball is doing great!

I did end up having to help him out a bit. His membrane was really dry and he was stuck. I would have felt so guilty if something had happened to him, but I do know that it sometimes happens. Thanks to everyone that helped me out on this one. I will post some pics as soon as I can!

 

[princessmama]

Yay!

So glad to hear your chick is ok! Can't wait to see pics