HELP! New to hatching eggs and concerned!

[HollandFarm]

Which bread is this?

Tbh I am not sure. We got the hens and rooster as baby chicks from tractor supply! But she lays green/olive eggs only! Here is a picture of the two chicks we successfully hatched 4-5 days ago!

 

[HollandFarm]

Give him more time.

Have you read the article about assisted hatching?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
That article has a lot of useful information.

For example, it says that chewing motions mean the chick is still absorbing the yolk, and is not ready to come out of the shell yet. So that would mean you should not do anything for this chick right now, just wait and let it finish absorbing the yolk.


For future, just collect the eggs and bring them into the house to store safely until you are ready to put them in the incubator.

Eggs can naturally wait, without developing, so a hen can accumulate a clutch before she starts sitting, and then they will all hatch at once. Even if your hen does not go broody, you can save up a clutch of eggs and then put them in the incubator all on the same day.

Common advice says to store eggs between about 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. In practice, refrigerated eggs will sometimes hatch, and eggs stored a bit warmer will sometimes hatch (I've had good results with eggs stored between 70 and 75 Fahreneheit, which was my normal house temperature at the time.) So put them in a cool-ish room or a basement if you have one, otherwise just somewhere in your house that isn't in hot sunlight or next to a heater or anything like that.

You can definitely store eggs for up to a week. Storing them longer means that fewer of them will hatch, with about three weeks being the point where it is almost hopeless to put them in an incubator. Storing eggs for just a few days (to see if the hens are going to lay more) is definitely fine. And once you know the hens are still laying, keep collecting them until you have a nice clutch, then put them in to incubate.

This info is AMAZING! Thank you so much for all of this! I will just let little Hatchy be and hopefully he comes out safe and sound soon.

 

[NatJ]

Tbh I am not sure. We got the hens and rooster as baby chicks from tractor supply! But she lays green/olive eggs only!

Then she is probably an Easter Egger (lays blue or green) or an Olive Egger (lays dark green, also called "olive.")

Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers are not pure breeds, but usually have some kind of crossing in their background, and are just selected to lay pretty colored eggs.

Any specific hen will lay just one color of egg. So a hen that lays olive eggs will never lay white ones or brown ones. The shade can change a bit from day to day, so one day she might lay a darker olive color and the next day a little bit lighter one you might call green. She will probably never lay blue eggs, although it is possible that it could happen on rare occasions (brown egg layers can lay an occasional white egg too: their body just misses the last coating of color on the outside of the shell.)

 

[Jrzebra]

It looks good ! The membrane is stretchy looking and not dried out so it’s up to the chick to muster up the energy and strength to finish. It could take an hour or 12. When this has happened to me, I will take my flashlight and shine it on the egg from the outside of the incubator and tap on the lid. The light and sound wakes it up and encourages it to keep going. Good luck ! I’m sure you’ll have your little fluff soon.

Hi there, I have some tips to help your chick if needed, I've been hatching for several years & have seen this a lot. I agree the chick may get out on it's own & that's always best. Many times chicks in the same hatch will hatch differently- some just pop out quickly, while some may take 8 hrs or more.
In this particular case tho, I would help it along (if it was my chick). The reason is that I can see from the pic that it's membrane is drying out & often when a chick doesn't get out quick enough, the membrane will tighten around the chick as it dries, to the point where it keeps the chick from being able to move, so it can't finish zipping & hatching on it's own. Also, once the membrane gets as dry as this, it becomes tougher & harder for the chick to tear thru. If the chick can no longer tear the membrane, (or is trapped by a drying & shrinking membrane), it won't be able to hatch on it's own.
It is safe to help the chick by making a cut in the membrane away from the beak, as long as the blood vessels have receded & this one looks to me like it has. To tell for sure, just moisten the membrane w/ a little bit of warm (body temp) water or oil by using a q-tip. That will make the membrane transparent & reveal any remaining blood vessels. The blood vessels will start to recede from where the chick pips pretty quickly, so it is safe to cut the dry membrane away from the chick, starting at the beak. After moistening the membrane (to make sure there's no blood still in it), I'll use a small pair of nail scizzors & make a small cut (1/4" to 1/2" long) to try to unbind the chick so that it can resume hatching on it's own. Sometimes that's enough, but sometimes it will need more, so I do it in stages, cutting just a little at a time & putting the chick back into the incubator for 30-60 min in-between. If it hasn't made more progress after 1 hr, keep repeating until you're 1/2 to 3/4 around the egg. Once that far, the chick can usually do the rest on it's own (& it is best for the chick to finish hatching in it's own time), so I'll leave it after that, just checking every few hrs to make sure it isn't stuck again. It is best not to hatch the chick all the way & I never pull the chick out of the egg shell unless it's completely necessary. The reason for this is that if pulled out prematurely, the chick may not absorb all of it's yolk & it's navel may not close all the way. If either happens, the chick will most likely die.
Be patient. As long as it isn't stuck anymore, leave it. It may take several more hours, or you may even have to leave it in the incubator over night to finish hatching.

I've done this a million times & found it to be quite safe for the chick w/minimal bleeding, because once a chick pips thru the shell, it signals the blood vessels to recede & start drying. Any vessels that are torn as the chick pips will clot pretty quickly also. Just remember to start to cut or pull away the membrane from where the chick has already pipped, avoid any large blood vessels & work slowly, doing just a little at a time.
Once in awhile, even when careful, the membrane may bleed a little. If this happens don't panic, just stop & hold a paper towel or q-tip to it w/ light pressure and it will put the chick back for another hour b4 trying again.

 

[Jrzebra]

Im brand new to incubating and hatching eggs. So far we’ve successfully hatched two chicks around a week ago. I have another egg ready and today is its hatch day! I noticed the pipping around 4am this morning. Not sure when it officially happened and popped it’s beak through though. It’s currently 5am and it is still in the same spot and not trying to break out. It chirps and I can see the chick breathing and even moving sometimes too. I’ll attach a picture of how it looks currently. I’m worried because our previous two eggs hatched much much quicker! Once we noticed the initial pip it was out within an hour or two tops and they were much more active in breaking their shells etc. Any help is appreciated!! I’m using the Nurture Right 360 incubator that automatically sets temp to 99.5 degrees F and I’ve got humidity at 70 per the instructions for hatching.

expand...

Hi there, I have some tips to help your chick if needed, I've been hatching for several years & have seen this a lot. I agree the chick may get out on it's own & that's always best. Many times chicks in the same hatch will hatch differently- some just pop out quickly, while some may take 8 hrs or more.
In this particular case tho, I would help it along (if it was my chick). The reason is that I can see from the pic that it's membrane is drying out & often when a chick doesn't get out quick enough, the membrane will tighten around the chick as it dries, to the point where it keeps the chick from being able to move, so it can't finish zipping & hatching on it's own. Also, once the membrane gets as dry as this, it becomes tougher & harder for the chick to tear thru. If the chick can no longer tear the membrane, (or is trapped by a drying & shrinking membrane), it won't be able to hatch on it's own.
It is safe to help the chick by making a cut in the membrane away from the beak, as long as the blood vessels have receded & this one looks to me like it has. To tell for sure, just moisten the membrane w/ a little bit of warm (body temp) water or oil by using a q-tip. That will make the membrane transparent & reveal any remaining blood vessels. The blood vessels will start to recede from where the chick pips pretty quickly, so it is safe to cut the dry membrane away from the chick, starting at the beak. After moistening the membrane (to make sure there's no blood still in it), I'll use a small pair of nail scizzors & make a small cut (1/4" to 1/2" long) to try to unbind the chick so that it can resume hatching on it's own. Sometimes that's enough, but sometimes it will need more, so I do it in stages, cutting just a little at a time & putting the chick back into the incubator for 30-60 min in-between. If it hasn't made more progress after 1 hr, keep repeating until you're 1/2 to 3/4 around the egg. Once that far, the chick can usually do the rest on it's own (& it is best for the chick to finish hatching in it's own time), so I'll leave it after that, just checking every few hrs to make sure it isn't stuck again. It is best not to hatch the chick all the way & I never pull the chick out of the egg shell unless it's completely necessary. The reason for this is that if pulled out prematurely, the chick may not absorb all of it's yolk & it's navel may not close all the way. If either happens, the chick will most likely die.
Be patient. As long as it isn't stuck anymore, leave it. It may take several more hours, or you may even have to leave it in the incubator over night to finish hatching.

I've done this a million times & found it to be quite safe for the chick w/minimal bleeding, because once a chick pips thru the shell, it signals the blood vessels to recede & start drying. Any vessels that are torn as the chick pips will clot pretty quickly also. Just remember to start to cut or pull away the membrane from where the chick has already pipped, avoid any large blood vessels & work slowly, doing just a little at a time.
Once in awhile, even when careful, the membrane may bleed a little. If this happens don't panic, just stop & hold a paper towel or q-tip to it w/ light pressure and it will quickly clot & stop bleeding. Put the chick back into the incubator for another hour b4 trying again.

 

[HollandFarm]

Hi there, I have some tips to help your chick if needed, I've been hatching for several years & have seen this a lot. I agree the chick may get out on it's own & that's always best. Many times chicks in the same hatch will hatch differently- some just pop out quickly, while some may take 8 hrs or more.
In this particular case tho, I would help it along (if it was my chick). The reason is that I can see from the pic that it's membrane is drying out & often when a chick doesn't get out quick enough, the membrane will tighten around the chick as it dries, to the point where it keeps the chick from being able to move, so it can't finish zipping & hatching on it's own. Also, once the membrane gets as dry as this, it becomes tougher & harder for the chick to tear thru. If the chick can no longer tear the membrane, (or is trapped by a drying & shrinking membrane), it won't be able to hatch on it's own.
It is safe to help the chick by making a cut in the membrane away from the beak, as long as the blood vessels have receded & this one looks to me like it has. To tell for sure, just moisten the membrane w/ a little bit of warm (body temp) water or oil by using a q-tip. That will make the membrane transparent & reveal any remaining blood vessels. The blood vessels will start to recede from where the chick pips pretty quickly, so it is safe to cut the dry membrane away from the chick, starting at the beak. After moistening the membrane (to make sure there's no blood still in it), I'll use a small pair of nail scizzors & make a small cut (1/4" to 1/2" long) to try to unbind the chick so that it can resume hatching on it's own. Sometimes that's enough, but sometimes it will need more, so I do it in stages, cutting just a little at a time & putting the chick back into the incubator for 30-60 min in-between. If it hasn't made more progress after 1 hr, keep repeating until you're 1/2 to 3/4 around the egg. Once that far, the chick can usually do the rest on it's own (& it is best for the chick to finish hatching in it's own time), so I'll leave it after that, just checking every few hrs to make sure it isn't stuck again. It is best not to hatch the chick all the way & I never pull the chick out of the egg shell unless it's completely necessary. The reason for this is that if pulled out prematurely, the chick may not absorb all of it's yolk & it's navel may not close all the way. If either happens, the chick will most likely die.
Be patient. As long as it isn't stuck anymore, leave it. It may take several more hours, or you may even have to leave it in the incubator over night to finish hatching.

I've done this a million times & found it to be quite safe for the chick w/minimal bleeding, because once a chick pips thru the shell, it signals the blood vessels to recede & start drying. Any vessels that are torn as the chick pips will clot pretty quickly also. Just remember to start to cut or pull away the membrane from where the chick has already pipped, avoid any large blood vessels & work slowly, doing just a little at a time.
Once in awhile, even when careful, the membrane may bleed a little. If this happens don't panic, just stop & hold a paper towel or q-tip to it w/ light pressure and it will quickly clot & stop bleeding. Put the chick back into the incubator for another hour b4 trying again.

Thank you so much for this info!! i did exactly as you said and helped it get its head exposed safely! I got it back in the incubator and left it alone for the last hour and no matter how much it wiggled it just couldn’t get its feet loose. So I just now opened the incubator and very gently pulled the remaining shell and membrane away as it wiggled its way out. The membrane had began drying to its back and that’s why it could not get out fully on its own. The cord/shell seems to be intact to it’s navel still and it’s sleeping already again and hasn’t attempted to stand or anything like how our other 2 healthy chicks did. They both came out quite literally running once hatched so this is all so scary for me that this baby is so lethargic even after hatching. here is a picture of how it was after i assisted an hour ago and the second picture is how it is now fully hatched.

 

[HollandFarm]

He is a lot more alert and chirping lots but still can’t seem to get a steady balance enough to stand or walk correctly. His legs are working and moving he just cannot get enough strength or balance idk. Has anyone experienced this and the chick actually survived?? I would feel so terrible if this baby doesn’t make it. Here’s a picture from an hour or two after full hatch and a picture of him right now.

 

[HollandFarm]

Little update if anyone is even here still. Hatchy definitely needed my assistance so I followed all of you guy’s advice and instructions and got him halfway out. He could not get out fully even then because the membrane had began drying to his back. So I had to assist him yet again and got him free. His legs worked and moved but he couldn’t stand or walk at all for the first few hours. After hours and hours in the incubator I took him out and moved him to be with our other two 5 day old chicks under the red heat lamps. He ate food and drank water right away. After a while I’ve seen that he can walk it’s just not very balanced walking and doesn’t go very far. It seems as though maybe he can’t stretch his legs fully out or something..? Here’s a picture of him right now and to kind of show how he walks low to the ground much much different than our other two chicks. His face seems to have a different build/look than the other two chicks too so I’m guessing he’s just a very special little fluff who will need very special care. Here’s to hoping he makes it.

 

[HollandFarm]

Okay he actually can and does stretch his legs out all the way while standing under the heat lamp’s sleeping! Lol so I’m not sure why he’s walking crouched down and so wobbly. Here’s how he’s sleeping

 

[NatJ]

I’m not sure why he’s walking crouched down and so wobbly.

That seems to be more common in just-hatched chicks (first few days) and less common later. Some chicks do that at first, then a few days later are acting just the same as any other chick.

he can walk it’s just not very balanced walking and doesn’t go very far. It seems as though maybe he can’t stretch his legs fully out or something..? Here’s a picture of him right now and to kind of show how he walks low to the ground much much different than our other two chicks. His face seems to have a different build/look than the other two chicks too so I’m guessing he’s just a very special little fluff who will need very special care. Here’s to hoping he makes it.

Yes, he might have some kind of special needs. I don't think there is any way to be sure at this point.

If a chick has some kind of deformity or delay, that can cause them to have trouble hatching as well as trouble later. But some other chicks need help hatching and then go on to live normal healthy lives, and some chicks hatch without assistance but then prove to have issues later. So it's not very predictable.