_georgia_
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Hi there, I don't know if I'm writing in the right place here. Me and my family have hatched some chicks this year, as we have done for the past few years. They were due on Monday and over the course of the last few days they all have hatched- but one.
This one that hadn't hatched started pipping on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, however no progress had been made and we assumed the chick had passed away. Today around 10am, we candled the egg one last time to check for any signs of movement or life inside, when we started to hear peeping. Upon examining, we found the little chick hadn't even pecked through the shell, and instead had grown so big that the egg began cracking. We waited a little longer to allow the chick to come out, however after a few hours and no progress, we took off the tiniest piece of shell to see that the chick was completely shrink wrapped and stuck inside.
Now I know the last thing you want to do is to help the chick out the shell as this causes the chick to be more likely to die. However we could hear it in so much distress that we took it upon ourselves to gently take away small increments of the shell in order to unzip it, and spray warm water on the membrane to loosen it, then allow the chick to push her way out as we could see her trying to get way out.
After getting enough out the way to be able to see her eye and beak, we could see her eye was wide open, which I found really strange as I know usually it would take up to an hour after hatching for a chick to open its eyes. Furthermore, after managing to get out her shell, I noticed she has some full feathers forming on her back and wings, which my first hatched chick (who came out Monday) has only just started to grow! From which I can assume this chick has been developing a lot longer and is older than I thought ??? (Please let me know if this is something that can happen to chicks!)
She is now almost fully fluffed out, and has been out of her shell since around 1pm (6 hours ago whilst writing this) and she has a horrific right-ward lean, and cannot straighten her neck or hold up her head for longer than a second. She is very loud and clearly has a lot of energy and life in her! I just am worried for how she is going to eat/drink, and if she's going to be able to walk, as one of her legs is still very weak and slightly drags behind her.
I know chicks can take a long time to grow their strength, however she is unlike any chick I've ever hatched, and just seems so uncomfortable! Her neck looks so swollen and heavy, I'll import some photos of her (When she was freshly hatched she has a very wonky head too!)
Any advice on how I can help her out, or what possibly could be wrong with her would be greatly appreciated! (he is staying in the incubator away from the other chicks for now, due to the fact they're a lot older and stronger than him, and seem to be interested in pecking each others
eyes haha! I only took him out for a quick video to show him!)View attachment IMG_5248.mov
This one that hadn't hatched started pipping on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, however no progress had been made and we assumed the chick had passed away. Today around 10am, we candled the egg one last time to check for any signs of movement or life inside, when we started to hear peeping. Upon examining, we found the little chick hadn't even pecked through the shell, and instead had grown so big that the egg began cracking. We waited a little longer to allow the chick to come out, however after a few hours and no progress, we took off the tiniest piece of shell to see that the chick was completely shrink wrapped and stuck inside.
Now I know the last thing you want to do is to help the chick out the shell as this causes the chick to be more likely to die. However we could hear it in so much distress that we took it upon ourselves to gently take away small increments of the shell in order to unzip it, and spray warm water on the membrane to loosen it, then allow the chick to push her way out as we could see her trying to get way out.
After getting enough out the way to be able to see her eye and beak, we could see her eye was wide open, which I found really strange as I know usually it would take up to an hour after hatching for a chick to open its eyes. Furthermore, after managing to get out her shell, I noticed she has some full feathers forming on her back and wings, which my first hatched chick (who came out Monday) has only just started to grow! From which I can assume this chick has been developing a lot longer and is older than I thought ??? (Please let me know if this is something that can happen to chicks!)
She is now almost fully fluffed out, and has been out of her shell since around 1pm (6 hours ago whilst writing this) and she has a horrific right-ward lean, and cannot straighten her neck or hold up her head for longer than a second. She is very loud and clearly has a lot of energy and life in her! I just am worried for how she is going to eat/drink, and if she's going to be able to walk, as one of her legs is still very weak and slightly drags behind her.
I know chicks can take a long time to grow their strength, however she is unlike any chick I've ever hatched, and just seems so uncomfortable! Her neck looks so swollen and heavy, I'll import some photos of her (When she was freshly hatched she has a very wonky head too!)
Any advice on how I can help her out, or what possibly could be wrong with her would be greatly appreciated! (he is staying in the incubator away from the other chicks for now, due to the fact they're a lot older and stronger than him, and seem to be interested in pecking each others
eyes haha! I only took him out for a quick video to show him!)View attachment IMG_5248.mov
