Chick is moving in egg, but no pipping yet

[crtyjlee]

i had 4 chicks hatch out on day 20 and 5 more hatch day 21. its now day 22 and theres 4 eggs left. Im pretty sure 3 of them stopped developing because i cannot see any movement, but the other i can definately see the chick moving and opening its mouth. But the weird part is that there is a huge air sac, or what apperars to be an air sac (its just open space in the egg) the chicks head seems to be in this open space, and the rest of the body at the bottom of the egg. The open space seems to occupy about 40-50% of the egg. At this point shouldnt the chick take up most of this space. Should i help the chick out, or just leave it alone.

 

[kada6305]

I would leave it alone. From what your describing is the chick has internally piped and should externally pip within about 8 hours. The chick should be breathing in the air sac now. You may or may not hear peeping. I have one that has internally piped but no piping. I would wait until tomorrow, candle it and see wwhat is going on.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I would leave it alone. From what your describing is the chick has internally piped and should externally pip within about 8 hours. The chick should be breathing in the air sac now. You may or may not hear peeping. I  have one that has internally piped but no piping. I would wait until tomorrow, candle it and see wwhat is going on. 

X2 I would leave it alone to do its external pip. From how you have you described your egg it sounds normal to me. Good luck.

 

[crtyjlee]

it was like this when i candelled it last night. so its been more than 8 hours this way. Im just extra concerned because i had 2 hatch with the yolk sac not fully absorbed. one died before it was completely out of the egg and the other died this morning, almost 24 hours later

 

[kada6305]

I am on my second hatch so I cant really say. my first batch none hatched. maybe make a tiny hole in the shell where it has internalli piped? not sure.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching. I would only assist as a very last resort. I have put the assisted hatching link on here for you to read before you start helping. It's very good talks you right through it and gives some good points on when to actually help. Outcomes of assisted hatching are not always good so please be prepared.

I have also had chicks that have pipped internally on day 19 but not hatched till day 21. The chick may still be absorbing yolk and blood vessels if you do assist and you see blood STOP straight away put it back in the bator on damp cloth and put the humidity up it's not ready to hatch.

Wishing you the very best of luck

 

[crtyjlee]

thank you so much for the info! ill let you know how it goes

 

[crtyjlee]

well, i left the egg alone and candelled it again this morning. i no longer saw movement, so i opened it up and the chick had died

i appreciate all the advise though!!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Very sorry to hear about your chick I'm afraid it's all part of hatching I have come to the thinking now that chicks that are not able to hatch themselfs tend to be weak or sick chicks. I have a rule for when I'm hatching i do not open the incubator no matter what is going off in there. What will be will be I would help if chicks are struggling when I remove the hatched ones but that is only time and only as a last resort. I believe it's nature way off removing the weak. Wishing you the very best of luck in the future

 

[kada6305]

So sorry for your loss.