Beak Poking Out Of Egg 24 hrs, HELP or Not to Help???

[brandyb]

I have a buff orpington chick trying to hatch! The beak has been poking out of a hole about the size of a pencil top for almost 24 hours. It is still breathing and chirps every now and then. Do I need to help it get out and leave it alone or let it do it on it's own? It the last egg to hatch, I want to help it if I need to but if I don't need I will it leave it alone. It hasn't been rocking the egg at all and it doesn't even look like it's trying to come out, it looks like it's thinking I have beak out, I can breathe, so that's all I need, haha.

Any advice????

 

[Wynette]

Brandy, you'll get varying opinions on helping; I am a firm believer in not helping. If a chick cannot hatch on its own, there is a reason. I know it may sound mean, but any that you help can end up passing along "poor hatchability" genes to any offspring. Give it more time...sometimes it takes longer than 24 hours. BEST of luck!

 

[miniwhipkey]

Brandy, Wynette gave very good advice!!! That is how I handle the situation.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Sorry but I lean the other way, only because most of the time the reason they can't hatch is because we are doing something wrong during the incubation. I do wait at least 24-30 hrs before I start to help. This gives it time to absorb the yolk. Good luck on whatever you decide to do. It can be a hard decision.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
I'm with Wynette on this one. If most of them are having the same problem then it might be a different matter since I'd have to assume it was something I did wrong. If most hatch OK and there's only one or two that have a problem like you're describing then I'd not interfere. There's likey a good reason why they can't finish.

.....Alan.

 

[silkiechicken]

Give it the full 24 hours before thinking about helping. I am a fan of let them do it myself, as if it is still moving and chirping, it probably feels something isn't quite right yet to break out. For example, if it was in a cooler spot, it could have been a bit slower to develop, or maybe it hasn't fully absorbed it's yolk sac yet, or the blood has not all gotten taken up by the chick. In any of those last senarios you went in a peeled off shell, you'd be negatively impacting the chick.

Now 24 hours later, chick peeps getting weak, and you have already opened the bator and potentially dropped the humidity one too many times, you can think about "helping" and slowly chipping away at the shell to see what is going on. There is a sticky on it.

 

[debilorrah]

The ones I have helped out is because they were shrink wrapped. totally my fault, didn't have anything to do with Mother Nature. It was my humidity not being high enough.

 

[chickenlady08]

I am kinda on the fence for this one. April 16 I had a baby that started to pip on the 15th. I heard it fine and it had been 24 hours and was still in the egg. I started to panic thinking that something was wrong. It was kinda warm outside and even though they were inside my garage felt the membrane getting dry and I was afraid that it would be shrink wrapped in the egg and never come out. I just pulled a little piece of the membrane and the egg cracked and the little chick fell into my hands. It still had not absorbed the egg yoke all the way and had a little red bulge hanging from the vent area. I just put the baby under its Momma along with the other 2 chicks that had hatched thinkin that it would be ok. Well when I came back outside to check on them the whole egg sac had either been pulled out by the other chicks or the Momma. I took it to my family owned livestock supply store where the owner just clipped the sac off. I didn't put it back with its Momma and siblings because I knew we would have to hand feed and water it. My daughter and I named it Lucky. We had it in my daughter's room with a heat lamp, food, little bit of sugar water and several stuffed animals. She got up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to feed and water him. He was so so cute. On Saturday she stayed at a friends house so I stayed in her room. The little guy/girl would not stop crying. I decided that in order for it to feel close to someone then I would have to let it sleep with me. I put him inside of my sports bra and propped myself up so I would not roll over on Lucky. He seemed to be doing so well. So on Sunday afternoon I put him out with his momma cause I figured she would be able to keep it warmer than anything. It seemed to be fine but I do not think Lucky got out and ate or drank because on Monday evening he was very sluggish and not his normal self. He died on Tuesday the 19th. He had a good 3 days of life, but it still hurt to lose him/her.

If I had to do it all over again I would wait longer until I intervened to help. I don't want you to have to go through this. It is heart breaking either way, but give it a chance to come our on its own.

good Luck and hope baby comes out soon

 

[brandyb]

I just got back home, and it finally hatched and is doing great! Thank goodness I didn't help it, b/c it probably wouldn'yt have made it! Thanks for all the advice, if it ever happens again i'll know what todo and what not to do! Thanks again for all the help!

I now have 12 new babies, 8 partridge rocks, 2 buff orpington and 2 blue orpington! Yay!!!!!

 

[silkiechicken]

Congrats!!! Often less is actually more!