Update: did not make it - Thought egg was dead, opened and it's alive, any chance??

[Quail345]

We all know that you tried your best to save it.

 

[Sylver Queen]

Oh no, I am so sorry for your loss!

Thank you! Me too. She was exactly what I hoped she'd be, blue and red like her mama. I still wish I'd given her another day before opening but with a fully absorbed yolk I'm guessing she wouldn't have gotten into position for hatch.

 

[Sylver Queen]

Another finding I forgot to mention that may have actually been the real issue. I think the chick bled out which is my bad, but it didn't get into position and likely wasn't going to hatch. I found its umbilicus wrapped tightly around one of its feet, meaning it couldn't move that leg without ripping its life source, meaning it couldn't move into position. Does anyone find this happens often?? Could it be egg-shape related? I mean it was really hard for me to unwind it from its leg without tearing it, so I'm wondering if similar to a human birth that would have caused problems. Weird.

 

[LaFleche]

Another finding I forgot to mention that may have actually been the real issue. I think the chick bled out which is my bad, but it didn't get into position and likely wasn't going to hatch. I found its umbilicus wrapped tightly around one of its feet, meaning it couldn't move that leg without ripping its life source, meaning it couldn't move into position. Does anyone find this happens often?? Could it be egg-shape related? I mean it was really hard for me to unwind it from its leg without tearing it, so I'm wondering if similar to a human birth that would have caused problems. Weird.

Don't beat yourself up. Sometimes they will just not make it despite our best efforts.

I am sorry you lost it.

 

[Sylver Queen]

Don't beat yourself up. Sometimes they will just not make it despite our best efforts.

I am sorry you lost it.

Thank you much, I am anticipating all these lessons with help me invite healthy chicks into this world for years to come.

 

[Finnie]

I know, I should have known better and I feel completely horrible, but I'm asking for help anyway. Day 23 and I know eggs can go even longer but there is zero sign of movement at any point, large air sac with no pip, and everybody else finished hatching over 24 hours ago. I had kept it in the incubator but with no sign of anything I didn't want to be cooking a deceased chicky in there, so I gently punctured at the air cell, saw movement and wish I had put it straight back but I thought perhaps the chick was malpositioned for pipping and breathing so I tore the membrane but made it bleed. Of course I put it straight back in with a ton of humidity and plenty warm, but I'm wondering if anyone who has made this choice ever had a chick survive.

Thank you for any information!

Hey I know I’m late responding. Four pages I didn’t read (yet), but I just wanted to chime in and say I have done this too. Try not to feel too bad. One of the ways we learn to get better at things is by the experience we gain when we accidentally do the wrong thing.

 

[Finnie]

Now that I’ve finished the 4 pages, I think you were right that this chick probably never would have hatched because of its malposition. I have had chicks pip at the wrong end and hatch on their own just fine, and also some that didn’t make it. But those air cells had been at the correct end of the egg. I don’t have any experience with trying to hatch an egg whose air cell was at the pointy end.

I have also “helped” a couple times and accidentally tore a blood vessel in the membrane. Those chicks bled out and didn’t make it. I felt awful! So now I’m more selective about whether I try to tear membranes or not. And I’m a little bit better at recognizing whether viable veins are present, or whether the tiny vessels that remain are inactive. It surprises me how many chicks hatch, and I can see that there are still visible veins inside their empty shell. And some chicks bopping around just fine who have had visible blood loss.

Some folks are of the opinion to never assist. The idea being that you only want birds in your flock that have whatever it takes to hatch unassisted. I get that and I’m kind of in the same opinion. However, if I see one that seems like it will die if I don’t help, then I usually help. Some live, some don’t. I put a grey leg ring on any chick that had issues. Quite often, those grey ring chicks die within a week or two. But a lot of them have grown up just fine. Theoretically I would not hatch eggs from those birds. And therefore I usually sell those once they are thriving.

One thing I have learned about assisting, which may be more of an opinion than a fact, is that if the chick doesn’t pip internally and externally on its own, then it’s not a viable chick and I won’t assist. I only assist zippers that have gotten stuck. Cuz that only seems fair, right? Otherwise, if it’s not pipped but still looks alive in the shell, I leave it in the incubator after all the dry chicks have been removed until such time as it is no longer moving. Whether I open it up to do an “eggtopsy” depends on how curious I am. I usually throw them away but sometimes I want to look inside to make sure it’s dead.

Very rarely have I made a hole into the air cell and found a living chick. I believe one of those hatched after I put it back, but most don’t. As my own general rule, by the time the last normal unassisted chick is 24 hours old, there will not be any more stragglers to survive.

I guess I would say, the more you hatch, the more different situations you are going to experience. You are doing a really great job.

 

[Sylver Queen]

Hey I know I’m late responding. Four pages I didn’t read (yet), but I just wanted to chime in and say I have done this too. Try not to feel too bad. One of the ways we learn to get better at things is by the experience we gain when we accidentally do the wrong thing.

Thank you so much! I've been doing a pretty good job forgiving myself. It does not seem like it was going to hatch as it developed facing the wrong way and seemed quite weak after being two days late with a dwindling oxygen supply. Someone shared with me that they can hatch wrong end by external pipping but this one seemed unable to do so, so I feel that I put it down before it would have died anyway. I have definitely learned though to check for vain presence before tearing a membrane and that it's possible to chip through the opposite side of the egg when a chick is breech to try to give it air and started breathing! Definitely a learning experience, and thank you so much for sharing and encouraging.