Pipping egg?

[gamermouse]

Is this a pipping egg? The first was laid 10/27 and all four are fertile and doing fine as of two days ago when I removed them to candle. I looked in at them just now when she was off the nest and saw this little hole

 

[Peachfaced]

@Laurie @Zara

Tagging some folks that may be able to help.

 

[gamermouse]

Okay it’s definitely pipping!
I heard chirping when I stood next to the cage this afternoon.

 

[gamermouse]

No progress but still chirping. Worried it may be stuck. Peeked through a tiny crack finally and saw the membrane is entirely dry and looks like tissue paper.
Is this good or bad?

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I don’t think dry is good. Baby may need help, BUT it must be done very, very carefully or you can seriously injure or kill the baby. Hopefully someone with experience will respond soon to help.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

@finchly @Monica

 

[Destiny]

If it has been trying to hatch since Saturday, then something has definitely gone wrong. My experience is with chickens, but the expectation is that a chick should finish hatching within 12 to 18 hours of pipping. Occasionally, it takes longer, but the odds of survival go way down at that point.

A dry membrane is bad, since that makes the membrane tough and harder to break open. What is the room humidity? Improper humidity is a common issue when hatching chicken eggs. If the air is too dry, the babies struggle to escape the shell, because the membrane dries out and sticks to their body, preventing them from moving around and rotating inside the shell during hatching. If the air is too wet during incubation, it can also be bad, but low humidity is worse for hatching.

In chicken circles, many people believe that you should never help a struggling chick, because if you mess with the egg it will kill the chick. Or that the chick is struggling because it is defective, so even if it lives, it will be unhealthy. In my experience, that is simply not true. If the chick has been trying to hatch for over 24 hours, it is going to die without intervention. You can't make things worse by trying to help. And environmental factors, like humidity, can cause any chick to struggle, regardless of overall health and fitness.

Here is a suggested way to help a baby chicken hatch:

"If you dont see progress take a pair of tweezers and carefully pip a line around the egg where the chick started to pip. Do not tear the inner membrane in the process just in case the chick hasnt absorbed all the blood into itself yet. Then give it a half hour to see if it will push out on its own. If it doesnt and the inner membrane blood vessels are pretty much empty then remove the top half of the egg shell the peel back the membrane. Then let the chick come out of the shell on its own. If it cant do that on its own there is little chance it will survive."

Source of quote with additional advice:

pipping but not hatching, need the experts help

So Im on day 21 and 2 of my 13 silkie eggs have pipped. First one was over 24 hours ago and the other about 8. Im getting nervous about the one that pipped over 24 hours ago it doesnt seem to be progressing. My temp is at 100, day 1-18 humidty has been in 40's.. Since lockdown it has been...

www.backyardchickens.com

 

[gamermouse]

If it has been trying to hatch since Saturday, then something has definitely gone wrong. My experience is with chickens, but the expectation is that a chick should finish hatching within 12 to 18 hours of pipping. Occasionally, it takes longer, but the odds of survival go way down at that point.

A dry membrane is bad, since that makes the membrane tough and harder to break open. What is the room humidity? Improper humidity is a common issue when hatching chicken eggs. If the air is too dry, the babies struggle to escape the shell, because the membrane dries out and sticks to their body, preventing them from moving around and rotating inside the shell during hatching. If the air is too wet during incubation, it can also be bad, but low humidity is worse for hatching.

In chicken circles, many people believe that you should never help a struggling chick, because if you mess with the egg it will kill the chick. Or that the chick is struggling because it is defective, so even if it lives, it will be unhealthy. In my experience, that is simply not true. If the chick has been trying to hatch for over 24 hours, it is going to die without intervention. You can't make things worse by trying to help. And environmental factors, like humidity, can cause any chick to struggle, regardless of overall health and fitness.

Here is a suggested way to help a baby chicken hatch:

"If you dont see progress take a pair of tweezers and carefully pip a line around the egg where the chick started to pip. Do not tear the inner membrane in the process just in case the chick hasnt absorbed all the blood into itself yet. Then give it a half hour to see if it will push out on its own. If it doesnt and the inner membrane blood vessels are pretty much empty then remove the top half of the egg shell the peel back the membrane. Then let the chick come out of the shell on its own. If it cant do that on its own there is little chance it will survive."

Source of quote with additional advice:

pipping but not hatching, need the experts help

So Im on day 21 and 2 of my 13 silkie eggs have pipped. First one was over 24 hours ago and the other about 8. Im getting nervous about the one that pipped over 24 hours ago it doesnt seem to be progressing. My temp is at 100, day 1-18 humidty has been in 40's.. Since lockdown it has been...

www.backyardchickens.com

Thank you! Not long after this I listened to my gut and followed a guide at Rosalie's aviary, doing precisely what you said above. Not only was it completely dried to the chick's wing shoulders, but it had also pooped while inside the shell. I dampened the membrane and gently peeled it back, then set the egg down again and the chick kicked out of there like it was diving across a finish line and immediately began scooting.

It now seems to be fine but surprisingly active. I'm just glad you posted this to validate me that I wasn't dumb for assisting it. She's been trying to hatch for a while and changes to the environment like no soft food and early bedtime didn't help at all. I let her sit it out on a nest of eggs—they didn't hatch, and after 21 days she went right back to working on it.

I think my humidity gauge is broken as it was reading high 50s. I was going to say, "I'll order a new one" but I went and bought one just now instead of waiting. My humidity, according to my new gauge, is at 43% :| Another is due to hatch in a few days so hopefully this won't repeat itself.

I'm somewhat concerned about the mother not feeding him yet and reading conflicting information. Some say the parents won't feed for a day or two, one days if the parents don't feed in 8 hours, give it a few drops of water.