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Urgent chick having trouble hatching

Pegggggg

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yesterday I noticed the last of our 4 cockatiel eggs had the first pip spot.. it has been about 24hrs... and the chick has been cutting in the wrong direction (the pip line is going in the direction of end to end instead of around the middle at the air sac line... (vertical instead of horizontal)... I have never assisted with a hatching before (watched videos and read up just now..) but figured should ask here first

NOTE: i have candled and the chick is very active... and i can feel the kicks thru the shell

I have been watching closely for the last hour... NO progress on the pipping... but he/she has begun peeping constantly

at what point should I assist and in what way? anyone with experience in this particular issue???

been another hour... no progress on the pipping... but he/she is VERY noisy inside... (lots of peeping... not alot of pipping lol) Im really worried that he is not going to be able to do this on his own.. and need advice on the best/safest way to proceed
 
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Zara

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Zara

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Have you called your vet?
Do you have a mentor you can call?

I deleted the duplicate thread so that all responses are in the same place and tagged some people I thought may be able to help.
 

Laurie

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This is actually something that happened to me before and I worried over it all night, trying to decide if the chick was ready to hatch. Turns out it is simple, if the chick is unzipping the egg then he is definitely ready. In this case, place the egg on a flat surface and you can carefully help crack the egg around and gently pull the egg away from the chick.

With my chick she had cracked partway around and then started a new crack and the two did not meet up. So strange.

Here is a video with more details then you need about helping a chick hatch.

Watch it anyways for detail on what to do but know that at this point you chick is ready to hatch, just a bit confused.

Work on a clean surface with clean hands.

Best of luck.
 
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Shezbug

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@Laurie can you repost your link? It’s not working.
 

Pegggggg

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THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HELP!! @Shezbug your link had alot of the same information that I had read elsewhere so it was very reassuring that I was checking for all the right things before intervening... I appreciate it

UPDATE: chick is out of egg.. looking normal...and back under Bella... and being trampled by 3 siblings and 2 curious parents... as he/she should be (Bella nibbled all over the egg shell that I placed in next to him/her... then proceeded to roll chick under her... so all looks good so far)

here is what happened-
i extended the opening in the proper direction... and immediately noticed that the membrane was completely dry and cracked and brittle.. so i went ahead and continued the line and removed top of shell (air sac area)... the membrane was GLUED to the chick skin tight (other than the beak/nostril/one eye).. so chick would NOT have been able to exit egg... he/she was peeping loudly and struggling but was GLUED to the inside of shell... so i warmed some water and moistened the membrane... after some effort... the chick was able to stretch out of the egg a bit... but alot was still glued to inside of shell.... I used damp paper towel on outside of shell to soak and soften the shell and it was absorbed thru the shell and softened the membrane... lots of wiggling... and the membrane eventually was soft enough that the chick could pull free a little at a time... til all out.... no bleeding!!! yayyy cause i was worried that the chick pulling would tear fragile little skin...

luckily the entire beak/nostril area was free from membrane... and breathing (and peeping)... so i felt comfortable enough in soaking the egg with the wet towel...
 

Pegggggg

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Here is a video with more details then you need about helping a chick hatch.

Watch it anyways for detail on what to do but know that at this point you chick is ready to hatch, just a bit confused.

Work on a clean surface with clean hands.

Best of luck.
that video was scary.. im sure if i really needed to i could use metal things directly on the tiny fluffy... but i dont have that level of experience... i was being ever so gentle with a wet Q-tip and wet paper towel.. and didnt want to even try to put any pull on the shell.... he was just yanking it off and scraping the chick...

Im glad that my chick was only dealing with a completely dry membrane gluing him to the shell... but the yolk was all used up and the navel was completely normal...
 

Laurie

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that video was scary.. im sure if i really needed to i could use metal things directly on the tiny fluffy... but i dont have that level of experience... i was being ever so gentle with a wet Q-tip and wet paper towel.. and didnt want to even try to put any pull on the shell.... he was just yanking it off and scraping the chick...

Im glad that my chick was only dealing with a completely dry membrane gluing him to the shell... but the yolk was all used up and the navel was completely normal...
I totally get what you mean. I am sure he was not really being rough. Just confident and had obviously done it before. Plus his chick was a bit bigger.

I am so glad you got the baby out.
 
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