Urgent: Alexandrine chick hatching issues / Assisted hatching

[unlockup]

Hello,
My pair of alexandrines laid 4 eggs and hatched 3 for now. I am guessing the hen started incubating after laying the last egg. Unfortunately, I do not have the record of when was the last egg laid, I saw the 1st one on Jan 20. All eggs are hatched (I saw the first chick on Feb 16) except the last one is still not hatching. When I candled it I saw the black chick inside and it was still making movements. Today, I thought the chick needs assistance in hatching and decided to remove the shell slowly. Before I did, there were hairline cracks and three different pips which were not complete - the air would get through it. When removed the part of the eggshell I discovered that the chick is still in the membrane, the liquid and blood vessels present around it. I stopped there and did not break the membrane because the presence of liquid is not absorbed and blood vessels are still in the red. I taped the egg leaving a small pip-like hole and returned the hen. I am inspecting the egg and it is still being incubated by mom.

Could anyone help with experience in assisted hatching, please? I am not sure what to do next whether to leave it with mom or keep an eye on the egg and go ahead to assist with hatching.

 

[unlockup]

@melissasparrots Hello, I came up with your post for assisted hatching. I appreciate it if you share your thoughts

 

[a_conure]

i dont know much about hatching or breeding but maybe talk to one of those online avian vets? they would probably have the best advice, especially if its hard to get your bird to the vet

 

[Shezbug]

There is advice in this thread…. Urgent - chick having trouble hatching

 

[melissasparrots]

Hopefully, your issue has resolved itself by now. I would check on the egg a few times a day. You can drip a little bit of water onto the membrane to make blood vessels more visible. When you see the vessels start to recede, you can probably peel away more shell. Work slowly and keep the membrane moist. When you run across active blood vessels, stop and put the chick back with the mom. Once you have the baby half exposed, I would leave it to kick itself loose. It is best if you not pull the baby out of the egg since sometimes the yolk has not fully absorbed. Plus, you don't want to be pulling on the bird equivalent of an umbilicus. Sometimes babies like this get dehydrated due to loosing too much fluid before they were ready to hatch. Be ready to give it some electrolyte solution once it is out of the shell and warmed up. Some people even VERY carefully drip a little bit of fluid close to the chicks beak to get a little moisture into it before it hatches. This is a good way to aspirate a baby though it you mess it up.