Hatching process, after Pip?

Can someone please explain the technical stuff that happens after pip. For instance...... I have two Silkie eggs that piped almost the same time. One had zipped 1/4 of the way around and stopped this morning. So I decided to help out a little. ($30.00 for 8 eggs, I help out if needed) All his blood vessels had dried up and had been ready to hatch. The fluid inside the egg was so sticky. I helped by removing a small amount of shell so he had to do the rest. He did but had, i guess, been in the shell to long. His neck is curled down and he hasn't completely gotten his feet under him yet. He does seem to be getting better. The second egg piped around the same time and had a very large hole with a beak hanging out of it. Well I assumed he was having the same issue as the first, I proceeded in removing a small piece of shell. All looked great, the vessels at the top half of the egg were dried up. But, the vessels at the bottom were not yet. So I wrapped him in a damp paper towel and put him back in the bator. He is doing fine right now. So, after all that, my question is....... Once they pip is there a rule of thumb about how long it takes for the blood vessles to dry up and what is that process? Do they dry up from the pip hole (assuming it is facing up) to the bottom of the egg?

Oh one additional question.......I hear people talk about shrink wrapped chicks and I always assumed I understood what they meant. So will someone clarify? Are they talking about the very inner membrane where the blood vessels are, or the outer white membrane that lines the inside of the egg?

Thanks for you reply, Sharon

I believe what is meant by shrinkwrap is when the humidity drops in the incubator after they have pipped...it dries up the membrane and sticks to the chick inside the shell, making it difficult or impossible for it to hatch. They seem to know when it is time to come on out. I believe I read somewhere it can take up 30hrs after the pip for a chick to hatch. someone else can probably answer better!

Chicks don't pip because they're ready to hatch out, they pip because they're running out of air inside the egg and if they don't, they'll suffocate! Once they pip internally (break through the membrane to the air cell and start breathing air) they only have so long to go till they MUST pip externally or die due to lack of oxygen. So... I guess if the air cell is on the small side (too much humidity) or if the chick is on the big side (greater oxygen requirements) they might be forced to pip earlier than smaller chicks aith bigger air cells. But that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be ready to hatch...

I've had chicks pip, zip and hatch in less than an hour. And I've had chicks take well over 24 hours from pipping till they start to turn and zip. I never help out, and I've managed to fine-tune my incubations now to the point where I'm almost certain that every chick that pips will be able to hatch on its own. Some are quick, some are slow. I don't see any pattern to it at all...

P.S. Interesting question about in what order the blood vessels dry up. I hope someone can give an answer!

Quote:
I like the way you described that. Hopefully someone will know the BV answer.

Quote:
Thanks for this explanation! It really helped!!

This thread talks about shrink wrapped and sticky chicks. I think it is one of the better discussions on this issue on the forum. Look at the bottom of the first post. That person tried to summarize the discussion.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=491421

I have no idea in which order the blood vessels dry up.

Hatching is a process and it seems no two chicks do it identically. A chick is not resting all the time during the hatching process. It is usually working pretty hard. As Gypsy said, it has to learn how to breather air instead of living in a liquid. It has to absorb the yolk. It has to dry up the blood vessels. It does something to the gunk in the shell with it so it dries fluffy instead of the down being glued down. I have no idea how it does that. They are probably doing a lot of other stuff too.

Some chicks do a lot of this before internal pip or between internal pip and external pip. Those are the ones we like. The come out quickly after external pip. Some do a lot between external pip and zip. These worry us, or at least they worry me, because they take so long. Some occasionally zip before they totally finish all this, such as drying the blood vessels or absorbing the yolk. Most of these still make it.

I don't know how to tell what stage a chick is in during hatch. No rule of thumb at all.

How can you monitor how it coping once it has internally pipped? I have one left and don't want it to die in there.

will all the eggs pip at the same time? i had two pips out of 15 eggs this morning. one has hatched, one has done nothing and there are no other pips i can see so far. is there hope?

slrose24 said:

will all the eggs pip at the same time?  i had two pips out of 15 eggs this morning.  one has hatched, one has done nothing and there are no other pips i can see so far.  is there hope?

Click to expand...

Yes there certainly is, don't give up on your eggs. They all don't pip at exactly the same time, each chick is individual. Sometimes you get an early one and sometimes a late one. What day are you on with your eggs?

i am on day 21...i set them the morning of the 3rd.
3 have hatched now...one i didnt even see pip it just tore out of that egg!
i am holding my breath for the rest of the babies