First egg hatched! (Bronze heritage turkey) Please don't judge me, but I assisted. I felt I had no choice - first pip was 2 days early, then one additional peck/pip, then nothing - for 32 hours. That is a long time, yes? From what I have read on this site anyway. I could hear peeping the whole time, so I finally decided to intervene. Chipped a small hole, then waited - still nothing. Inner membrane looked brown and vascularity was shrunken, so I carefully cut away and there was no bleeding. I added bacitracin to membranes as I went along. I don't know why baby was so stuck, because though the membrane was brown, it didn't seem especially tough. Maybe I should have waited longer, but I was getting nervous getting up towards 36 hours. As soon as I peeled about 1/3 of the shell away, I put baby back for the last time and he almost immediately pushed his way out. There was no yolk, no bleeding, and there was even a poop inside the shell! That baby was ready to go in my newbie opinion. Now he is peeping like crazy every time I leave the room. <3 This one will never be a turkey dinner! Hoping the other egg survives the intrusion in lockdown. It had not pipped yet, and due to the dome structure of my incubator, humidity and warmth are kept fairly intact when opened.
