baby parrot cant break out of shell

Question
I had 3 timneh parrot eggs, the first egg piped through air sac , three days later baby still in side shell, had to pick him out, he only lived for about 4 hours, the second egg was the same he piped through the egg sac in side the shell three days later he is still in the shell, I made a tiny whole for him so he could breath but he still didn't come out, i picked him half way out, he stayed in the shell for another day the nest day i had to help him the rest of the way out. he is three days old and doing fine, My last egg has just piped through the air sac in shell, I really don't want to have to pic him out, any Suggestions? Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jackie

Answer
Hi, Jaclie.  Thanks for posting!

I don't understand why all 3 babies are having problems pipping out except that perhaps there isn't/wasn't enough humidity involved in order to keep things moist enough.  It takes 24-48 hours for babies to pip all the way out of their shells (they pip around on the inside first, then the outside shell...you won't see pipping until the baby is pipping the outside shell).  Sometimes babies get tired and can't finish pipping out themselves and require assistance from their parents or human.  Sometimes egg shells are too thick for a baby to pip out itself (which results in a baby becoming too tired).  Sometimes babies just aren't healthy enough to pip themselves out completely.  This is why we have to keep an eye on how things are progressing with our birds and their potential offspring and help them out if necessary (keeping accurate dates, watching every few hours, being knowledgeable about the process, etc.).  

For your last egg, based on the history of the other eggs, you may have to help this baby out, too.  If the egg shell is too dry where the baby is trying to hatch out, use a Q-tip and add a little bit of moisture (using sterile water) to loosen up the membrane from the egg shell and/or from the baby's skin.  Loosen up the egg shell where the baby's head is like you've done so the baby can breathe properly.  The baby's head should be at the big end of the egg (unless the baby is mispositioned, which sometimes happens during the hatching process).  Be careful not to remove any egg shell that isn't loose enough or you could cause the baby to bleed to death when you remove the shell.  Remove a little bit at a time.  Next remove egg shell bit-by-bit around baby's legs/feet so the baby can kick itself out (they pip around the egg and push themselves out).  If baby isn't strong enough to do this, you may end up having to remove the entire egg shell around the baby.  However, if there is still a yolk sack, DO NOT continue helping the baby out.  The yolk sack (around the naval) has to be absorbed first before baby hatches out or the baby will die.

Any questions, let me know.

Chrys