Our chicken flock is very diverse. We have regular birds, silkies, frizzled birds, some with crests such as Polish. We have hatched a few times over the years and decided to set a wide variety of eggs to see what we would get this time. 14 eggs went into the incubator, two weren't fertile and were later removed. The other 12 eggs made it to hatch, one needed an emergency assist which was incredibly scary but all are fine and healthy!
The rest of the birds hatched over the following days and a half or so. The second to last was the one who needed an assist.
The second to last egg had been pipped for over 24 hours and couldn't seem to zip out and something just looked wrong. I researched what to do and took my time. I gave the egg as long as I felt I could and even slept on it so to speak so I wouldn't rush things (or tried to sleep). Assisting too early can kill the chick as it needs to absorb the egg yolk and the blood from the veining.
Warning somewhat graphic photos next but it all worked out!
A tired though otherwise healthy chick made it through the assist. It was so nerve wracking to peel back the shell and membrane a tiny it at a time. The chick seemed to sense it had a chance and started pushing like mad to help itself out about halfway through. From my research it appears this chick was mal-positioned to hatch properly. It also had a rather small air cell all of which caused it to pip in the wrong place.I did the assist at 5:00 AM before putting in a full day working at the school. I was EXHAUSTED!
Later in the day the final egg hatched on it's own and we now have 12 diverse and healthy chicks joining the farm.
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