Hatch Day 23 and Possible malposition

[Kseale1986]

I have a pullet that decided to go broody in January. Of course, she is a silkie. Go figure. At first I wasn’t going to let her hatch out anything, but this girl was insistent. I remember chicks hatching when I was growing up but that was over 15 years ago. So after spending hours for days reading on BYC I felt that it would probably be best to give her a chance.

At first she started out in the big coop with the other chickens, but I have some Brahma bantams that liked laying in her box. About day 14 I walked out and one of the eggs was pushed out the box, out the coop, down the run way, and was 7 foot across the pen. Needless to say that one didn’t make it.

We got a broody coop/pen combo and set her up in that. She has done okay but there always seems to be eggs pushed out from under her. I push them back under her several times per day and she snuggles back down just fine. Last night (Thursday) the temps got down in the teens. Since day 21 was Tuesday/Wednesday, I didn’t want to take a chance of eggs getting pushed out and freezing this close to hatch. So I put her and the eggs in a box and brought them in the house (in the bedroom should she decide to abandon them in the night). I already had an incubator running just in case but would rather mom do it. She actually seems to be doing better in the house than outside.

I haven’t been too worried about late hatching since I know that several have been pushed out, and temps under 99.5 degrees can cause delayed hatch. I decided to go ahead and candle last night and they are all moving with nice air cells. There is only about 0.25 cm between the chick and the air cell. Most of them only have a few small veins left. There are a few that have a couple larger size veins.

There is 1 egg that has me concerned. It has progressed right along with the others but seemed to be positioned differently. As in there was a bigger gap between the chick and air cell for one and it just seemed different. I checked again tonight and there has been no change. Except this time I clearly saw a FOOT in the space between the chick and air cell.

What can I do? Is there a way to save this chick? I have read the really awesome post about assisted hatching 2-3 times. I don’t think it’s ready to come out yet but I want to be prepared with as much information as possible ahead of time. Just in case. Sorry for such a long post and Thank You for taking the time to read it.

 

[HuskerHens18]

Keep an eye on it, I didnt notice one of mine was malpositioned until it pipped, I let it zip until it couldn't anymore due to bad positioning. Then I assisted.
Turns out the chick was too big and couldn't turn right.

My personal advice is to wait until it pips. The chick didnt officially come out of the egg until day 25. It had been stuck around 35 hours before I intervened.

 

[cmom]

Years ago I had a broody that just wanted to sit on one egg and would push the rest out of the nest. I finally took the remaining egg away from her.

 

[Kseale1986]

Thanks for replying. I plan on leaving it and just letting it do it’s thing. Hopefully I won’t have to intervene. I’ve seen how bad that can potentially turn out when done too soon. As far as the eggs out from under her, I honestly think she just can’t see them. She has the biggest poof ever. All you can see is part of her beak. I literally have to dig around to find her eyes. I’ve thought about trimming but I’m scared I will cut her, or myself. I tried pulling it away and securing with a hair band but she wasn’t having that at all. Before Going broody she would run in to stuff. Poor thing. I feel bad for her. I’m going to have to do something so she can see to raise her babies...

 

[Kseale1986]

Just thought I would post a picture of the egg with the upside down chick. I couldn’t find one online. Maybe this could help someone in the future. I also have a video, recorded by my 8 year old, that I don’t mind sending in a message should anyone want to see it. That little point you see is the middle toe. I could actually see the nail! Absolutely amazing!

 

[HuskerHens18]

View attachment 1668701 Just thought I would post a picture of the egg with the upside down chick. I couldn’t find one online. Maybe this could help someone in the future. I also have a video, recorded by my 8 year old, that I don’t mind sending in a message should anyone want to see it. That little point you see is the middle toe. I could actually see the nail! Absolutely amazing!

That's a great picture! He might surprise you and reposition himself, looks like theres plenty of room for him.

 

[Kseale1986]

We’re HATCHING!!! Another upside down chick made a slight pip/crack out the side toward the bottom. I removed the piece of shell that was over its beak. And that outter membrane is as dry as can be. It’s almost like leather. I did have some bacitracin so I put that on the membrane. Turned the humidity up in the incubator and put him in there instead of back under mom. (Who hates me at the moment). Was that the right thing to do?

 

[HuskerHens18]

We’re HATCHING!!! Another upside down chick made a slight pip/crack out the side toward the bottom. I removed the piece of shell that was over its beak. And that outter membrane is as dry as can be. It’s almost like leather. I did have some bacitracin so I put that on the membrane. Turned the humidity up in the incubator and put him in there instead of back under mom. (Who hates me at the moment). Was that the right thing to do?

Sounds good, if possible make sure the beak is facing up towards the sky, I had one upside down chick drown because her egg tipped over and the egg goo blocked her only breathing hole. Now it's just a waiting game, keep us updated! ❤

 

[Kseale1986]

No more hatching for me. I’ve have one hatch upside down. Not the one in the picture either. Still waiting on that one. I have another that had internally pipped early yesterday morning. Externally pipped around 5. I left him for 6 hours and waited. Candling him didn’t look right either. Checked again. The hole was bigger. Hair was dry and I saw his foot above his head and he’s upside down too. I had to assist him too partly. He hasn’t broken free all the way yet. But I can say for certain his head is not under his right wing but under his right leg. OMG I have 5 to go!

 

[Erka97]

Hello. While it seems to have been too long to save the original chick in this thread if it did not manage on its own, I would like to share my own "malpositioned chick" story in case it might help anyone.
So I was hatching quite a few chicken eggs in my larger cabinet incubator, and since it was a day beyond hatching time I already had quite a few chicks out. I was candling the other eggs, finding that most were dead and needed to be thrown out.. But there was this one that looked odd. I could see a little movement, but no beak. It being days beyond hatching time, I decided to make a hole in the top of the egg to see what was keeping it from pipping. I wet the membrane with a little water so I could see, and was met with nothing but black feathers and odd, too dark red blood vessels. That baby was really stuck in there. I spent the next several minutes chipping away shell and membrane to find the beak, being careful as possible not to tear any blood vessels and doing my best to stop the bleeding when I did. Eventually I did find the beak, stuck down by the chick's belly in the middle of the egg. I freed her head and face and was happy to hear a weak little squeak as she began breathing. I set her on a clean sponge to rest and avoid falling through the holes in my incubator's shelving while she finished absorbing her yolk and shutting down her blood vessels.
Poor little Sponge was smaller and weaker than the others for days, to the point where she was mistaken for dead a few times during her first day of life. It took her three more days to gain movement in one of her legs, during which time I had to feed her tiny bits of chick food by hand and egg yolk and water with a spoon. I didn't think she'd make it, but eventually she pulled through and grew up to be a beautiful hen.
I still to this day have at least two of her chicks, all because I decided to open up and have a look at that one weird looking slow-poke egg.
Note, though, that this is a dangerous procedure, and I've lost other chicks doing the exact same thing. Still, it's one more chick saved than would have been if I did nothing.
Hope it helps someone.