moving a pipped egg

[chickenfan]

I have an egg in a small Brinsea incubator which has had a tiny raised bit of shell for the last 36 hours but it has made no progress. I can hear it cheeping, but not tapping the shell. I'm wondering whether to move it to a broody hen that has been sitting for 20 days or whether to try to enlarge the hole a bit?

 

[chrismahon]

I'd be tempted to enlarge the hole- a delicate operation indeed because the membrane must be kept moist and at the right temperature. Good luck. Any sign of bleeding stop immediately because the chick may have pipped early and be absorbing the yolk still.

 

[chickenfan]

Thank you Chris for replying so quickly. I put the egg under the broody in the early hours and it looks as though it is now hatching without intervention, so will see what happens.

 

[chickenfan]

How did your hatch go Chris?

 

[chrismahon]

Quite well Chickenfan. We were having to hatch two batches separated by 6 days. Experience has shown that separated by 7 days they won't integrate smoothly. The two batches were to maximise the quantity -we only have one hen. The oldest egg to hatch was 13 days! We set 14 eggs in total of which 4 were infertile, one developed a bacterial ring (think that was the egg laid in the run) and the other got into the correct pipping position but ruptured the yolk sac and drowned we think. So we have 8 chicks in the box trailer of which 3 are cockerels I think- English Leghorn Bantams show very early because of the comb size and the earliest we had one crow was 3 ½ weeks. They have a Brinsea 20 electric hen and a 175W high efficiency dull emitter on a thermostat for background heat. Problem is temperature swings outside. It can be 7 degrees at night and 26 in the day at the moment and the Brinsea hen at just 20W relies on a high ambient temperature to work properly. All the chicks have had Avipro Avian but no ACS because chick feed here is laced with probiotics and prebiotics anyway which should keep coccidiosis at bay. The chicks are very strong indeed and growing fast.

 

[chickenfan]

Congratulations Chris! I'm glad your chicks are strong and growing well. Are these eggs from your 5 year old hen? That is really interesting that probiotics can prevent coccidiosis. Does yogurt help, or does it need to be Beryl's friendly bacteria?

Am still a bit worried about the chick that bled a lot (c 5 drops of blood). Its now 36 hours since I helped it to hatch. It got up on its feet but was a bit wobbly and not interested in food and water. As I've been out all day I left it with the broody hen with its sibling and it has just stayed sleeping under her. Do you think it will come out and drink and eat when its ready or could it be getting dehydrated?

 

[chrismahon]

This hen is 2 ½ years old Chickenfan, but the 5 year old Wyandottes are all laying well. Problem is the cock who has very low fertility and doesn't tread the hens enough either. We had one fertile egg from 79 with another 20 in the incubator. Tried all sorts to improve the situation but if this batch fails he will need to be replaced, which is a shame as he has a good nature.

Your chick may be underdeveloped in some way. I'd try a drop of water on its beak by way of encouragement, but I wouldn't force it to drink.

 

[chickenfan]

Let's hope his Spring will have put the fertility back into him for the last batch! Chick seems to be doing fine now.