When to intervene, and when to not

[organicfoltzfamilyfarm]

OK my hatch day was Dec 30th. Only one hatched that day. The next day there was another one (31st). Then there was another four the 1st.

So I stared out with 8 eggs. One died in the shell from being breech.....

I have a total of six chicks now but one egg is still in the bator and it's 3 days after hatch day. I still see slight movement here and there from the egg.

After all of the chicks were removed I candled and and the whole egg is a black mass. No air cell or anything.

Is there a chance that it will make it? I'm not positive when the chick broke the cell because they were on lock down.

If any one has had any experience with this let me know. I believe it is because I have a still-air LG and the temp wasn't stable on the out side of the heating element (where this egg has been the whole time). I did move it more to the center and the temp is 101 and the humidity is about 61%.

Thanks!

 

[kyrose]

if it were me i would pip the egg to see if its alive.ive assisted chicks before.sometimes it turns out ok sometimes not..good luck.

 

[spikennipper]

Yes, the chick should have hatched by now so it may no longer be alive, first I would hold the blunt end up to my ear in a quiet room, if the chick is alive you will be able to hear it as it should have accessed the air cell and it will be making audiable clicks and cheeps, if no sound is heard look at the egg to see if there is any pipping started at all, check carefully around the blunt end of the egg and run your finger over it, if there is a small pip you should chip away the shell very gently at that point until you can see the beak of the chick to determine if it is alive, if it is continue to chip gently and slowly but stop if you see any blood at all, if you hear no sound from the egg and see no pip it is very likely the chick has died at this stage

 

[organicfoltzfamilyfarm]

Well I haven't heard any peeps but it does have movement.

Weird.

 

[kyrose]

i helped a chick like that and unfortunately it was born with a messed up beak and no eyes.i cared for it for about a week then the poor thing died.i hope this isnt the case for you,i hope your little guy is ok,but you need to be preparred there might be a reason why it hasnt hatched...

 

[organicfoltzfamilyfarm]

Yeah. I'm just going to open it here in a min. Well I'm not my husband is going to make a small hole.

I already had one die on me, and honestly I didn't feel to bad about it. Which is odd because I cry when I see dead animals. I guess I just wasn't getting my hopes up. But hey out of 8 eggs I have 6 chicks so I'm happy.

 

[kyrose]

let us know ow it goes...

 

[Kennyog]

Helping chicks out is a big gamble.i won't tell you not to try,just don't get your hopes to high.Just being honest.Good luck.

 

[organicfoltzfamilyfarm]

Well it was dead. I just wanted to know before it started to smell.

No I never want to have to help chicks. I guess when it was moving it was the yolk (was busted) switching places.

I honestly don't like the idea of helping a chick out. It was in position and everything even broke the air sac. There also wasn't any blood. Just runny yolk.

Oh well better luck next time.

It was cute though

.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

Sorry to hear that.

I have helped them out before, but usually only after it's been 24 hours since it first pipped and it still hasn't started to progress to a zip yet. I just take my thumbnail and so very gently zip the shell starting from the pip hole and go all the way around the shell ending back at the pip hole, being careful not to crush or push the shell in toward the chick. Then I lightly spritz the shell and pip hole with a very fine mist of warm water, just enough to moisten the membrane. The chick will then usually make it the rest of the way out of the shell on its own within an hour. I have found that incubators with fans can often dry the membrane out during hatching and make it harder for the chicks to zip after pipping. And that it helps when manually turning the eggs to move those eggs that are on the outside edge into middle, and vice versa periodically during the entire incubation period.