Chicken picking at feet

[wombatally]

The rest of them hatched on Friday and there are 4 sggs Pekin eggs left in there. One pipped then nothing, presumed dead as are the two that didn't pip. But there is one that hasn't pipped but is cheeping - it has been cheeping for days.

 

What do I do?!

[Egluntyne]

Two schools of thought. Some help them out, others don't, as their inability to get on with it is very often a sign that there is a problem with the chick. If it doesn't at least pip, I'd leave it, myself.

 

Helping them can be fraught with problems, anyway. If you do it too vigorously, the membranes can be stuck to them, and they may bleed.

[Jules.]

keep the humidity up to 60-70% & thge temp at 37 degreees.

 

Hope it hatches!

 

Maybe it's pipped underneath?

[Jules.]

I helped one of our chicks hatch, after it had pipped but nothing happened after 36 hours, & I could see it trying to break the shell, but in the shell gap, not against the shell itself

 

It needed a little bit of shell & membrane peeling with the help of some damp cotton wool, but was fine in the end. It had also been the very first chick to pip, & I was determined not to lose it. I was an adrenaline wreck while I started to help it hatch ( at 1.30am) , as I knew I might not be doing the right thing for it. It finished the hatch off by itself.

 

The 7 remaining eggs I had at day 24 weren't pipping

[Egluntyne]

I gave my third chick a helping hand, moistening the membranes as we went along. It was still cheeping lustily, so wanted to give it a chance, even though it had taken nearly 24 hours.

 

Unfortunately, when it finally was free of the shell, its intestines were on the outside, so I had to cull it.

[feemcg]

If it hasn't pipped I wouldn't help it. I've helped chicks out with mixed results.....like Egluntine one still had some of the yolk sac and intestine externally and was bleeding. I pushed them inside with a damp swab and applied pressure till it stopped bleeding. The chick ended up fine but prob just luck on that occasion.