Help!! Im not sure about this..

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tiffanyh

tiffanyh

Songster
12 Years
Apr 8, 2007
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Connecticut
Okay, this is my 3rd post on this batch of eggs. I have one survivor on day 21 today. The egg started to break across the girth yesterday. It exposed a thin semitransparent membrane. I can see parts of a chick through it but it is completely solid, no tears in it. I have the temp and humidity right, but is this a normal hatch??? I havent done this before!!! Also, I dont see any movement underneath the membrane, but it is still in tact. It is as if the outer shell peeled of, leaving a whole thin egg underneath...could this little guy still be okay??? Should I see him moving around?? Should I do anything??

He is my last hope for this batch! PLEASE help me out here!
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This is just what I would do since this is your last chick. I would open the bator and gently push the egg around some to see if you can encourage the chick to respond in some way. It's the only way I know of to tell if it's still alive. If you see some movement or hear cheeping then I'd gently spray the membrane with a little bit of warm water. I would also try to determine where its head is and gently tear back the damp membrane there so it can breath. No, this is by no means a normal hatch. I would imagine that since the membrane is solid and the poor thing was unable to pip a hole in it that it has probably died, but I would check before just throwing it out. I have been told that if the membrane is too tough for a chick to pip it is because the humidity was too low through the process, but I am also having problems with my hatches so please don't quote me on that. Good luck, I hope all goes well and your chick can be saved.
 
Hi, Some may consider intervention a no-no, but I had to help on day 22 myself. When you look at the membrane does it appear flexible and moist? Does it appear really white and a bit hard to see through?

Your chicks membrane may have dried out and you may want to quickly add some warm water to the outside of the membrane. In order for me to help mine, I completely removed the egg from the bator and treated it with warm water and then wrapped it in a very wet warm washcloth. My chick had been able to pip a tiny gash in the membrane but wasn't able to break out due to dry membrane.

I do know that if you hold the little guy that they usually will wiggle and you can feel it. The key factor would be keeping your incubators temp and humidity controlled as much as possible so that when you put baby back in it will still be right in order to hatch.

I took mine out and worked with the shell and membrane for about 3 to 5 mins before replacing to bator. Your instinct is your best guide. I noticed that movement and chirping were slowing down considerably and so decided to help. You can at least try to hold the chick in membrane and see if it will wiggle, chirp, or kick. Then you may want to use the warm water on the membrane and replace quickly to the incubator. If you use a washcloth, you will want to leave it open or unwrapped a bit where you tink the air cell or the beak is so it can get out fairly easily.

Best call is to use your instinct.
 
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No he did not. I opened it, it looks like the egg cracked independent of the chick doing anything. If was still all curled up and looked like it was at least 19 days, but not any older than that. I am very sad--I keep trying to figure out when it may have died. The temp got a bit off last night and today, but that was night 20 and day 21, and it looked a bit underdeveloped still, small, eyes not well defined yet, and still all tucked up.
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It was actually a homemade one. I bought them for my brody hen but I wanted to long and she left the nest last weekend. With two left, I made an incubator and hygrometer/thermo. I am going to wait until she goes brody again and start looking for more fertilized eggs. I have a small group of ladies, so I only want a few more--really I want the experience.

I do feel so bad for the little guy. He was developed enough that he was cute! You know Ive been a certifed vet tech for 10 years--you'd think I'd be used to death!! But Im not....
 

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