Zips gone bad

[Rose Quartz]

Thanks everyone. Are there any special tips i need to take with #1 since it's zipping mid egg or would the veins have receded by now?

the veins should be gone by now. but if you want to be extra careful you can open the aircell end and work from there watching for veins in the inner membrane.

 

[fatcatx]

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement.
I don’t know if I would call the results a raging success, but it was not a disaster.

Chick #1 appeared to be in a feet up malposition (to my untrained eye) which is probably what started the wild zip and stopped it. She was glued into place so she wasn’t going to be able to turn regardless of her positioning. She was a sticky mess. Sadly her feet are not normal. I am going to try and splint them this evening and give her 24 hrs to see if she can make a comeback.

So question – Is it likely the malposition caused the feet issues or the other way around?

Chick #2 had some glued up issues as well. Veins had completely receded and there was no yolk, but she had a big belly and couldn’t stand upright. Did she pop out a little too soon which caused the distended looking stomach? I put her in a cup with a warm damp paper towel for the night in the incubator, not optimistic she would make it through the night. This morning she didn’t look particularly well but was able to stand upright although very wobbly.

I don’t know if either will make it but I feel better knowing they could not have hatched on their own so there was no harm done in trying.

 

[oregonkat]

As soon as they are ready for the brooder, make sure that you give each of them some Nutri drench vitamins, neat, just a little on the side of the beak and then put it in their water.
Hopefully chick no 1's feet will straighten out with use. I have found that chicks that stay stuck in the shell for too long after starting to zip, have feet issues. building a 'shoe' for her should fix it within a day or so.
Chick no. 2's belly is just the absorbed yolk. She should be fine too as soon as she builds up some strength in her legs.

 

[lutherpug]

Good luck to you and your chicks. I hope they do well.

 

[fatcatx]

Wed update: From the start the chicks had nutri-drench in the water. Gave it directly to chick #1. Chick #2 was actively eating and drinking on its own.

Chick #1's feet did improve by the second day and it was able to stand. However after a brief improvement, the health rapidly declined from there. It showed no interest in eating or drinking and would only wake up when touched, but usually did not feel compelled to get up. I made the decision this morning to cull it so it would not die from dehydration, etc.

Chick #2 took about 36 hours to show significant improvement in activity levels, but then activity became much more normal. It is half the size of the rest of the hatch, but is on its way to catching up. I successfully integrated it with the rest of them last night with no issues.

Initially I thought #1 might make it with a little foot care and #2 probably wouldn't, so you just never know how things will turn out.