Chick stopped trying to get out

[rthepunk]

First time incubating. At day 18 one of the chicks started opening its shell. We saw a little movement. After about 10 hours or so it stopped and is no longer moving. It appears to have died. I had one of the two vents open and humidity was changed from 40 to 70 percent when we saw it was hatching. No clue what happened.

 

[yakitori]

First time incubating. At day 18 one of the chicks started opening its shell. We saw a little movement. After about 10 hours or so it stopped and is no longer moving. It appears to have died. I had one of the two vents open and humidity was changed from 40 to 70 percent when we saw it was hatching. No clue what happened.

is this a chicken egg?
was it pipping or was it trying to zip? chicks can take up to 24hrs to zip after external pip. This is a very quiet period with little movement from the chick.

If it has started zipping 10 hours ago, then it likely needs assistance.

 

[rthepunk]

Don’t know what pip and zip are. We got up Monday morning and some of the shell was pecked away and you could see a little beak. That was now 14 hours ago. No movement since. I peeled away a few little pieces of shell about 2 hours ago but there was no movement

 

[rthepunk]

Looked up words. She pipped but didn’t zip. Could be humidity wasn’t initially high enough since she was 4 days early. Too bad.
chicken egg

 

[yakitori]

Don’t know what pip and zip are. We got up Monday morning and some of the shell was pecked away and you could see a little beak. That was now 14 hours ago. No movement since. I peeled away a few little pieces of shell about 2 hours ago but there was no movement

zipping is when the chick works/pecks away at the shell in a circular motion, to separate the top half of the shell from the bottom so it can push out. This happens just before it pops out.

It sounds like the chick pipped (made a hole) externally. It is normal for there to be nearly no movement until it is ready to zip.
Normally assistance is not provided until 24 hours after the chick pips.

Some times the chick misses the air cell and pips on the wrong end (small end). These generally will need up to 48 hours since they did both internal and external pip simultaneously. Occasionally, a chick will pip through a vein, and may bleed to death.

It seems like you have confirmed the chick’s death?
Normally it’s not advisable to open the incubator when you have a pip because the drop in humidity may shrink-wrapping the chick.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Since this is your first time incubating and hatching, I suggest this wonderfully written article. It's so full of information that can be very helpful. What breed of chicken was this egg? Many bantam breeds will hatch around day 18. Other times, they can hatch early due to higher temps throughout incubation. You could have some warmer spots in the incubator, which will cause some to hatch early. During hatching, I always keep my vents fully open.

Guide to Assisted Hatching for All Poultry

 

[HeatherKellyB]

What kind of incubator are you using? Do you have a separate calibrated thermometer and hydrometer inside the incubator?

 

[rthepunk]

Thank you so much for your responses and the link to more information.

 

[rthepunk]

What kind of incubator are you using? Do you have a separate calibrated thermometer and hydrometer inside the incubator?

Pro series model 4250 from Farm Innovators. No separate place to add water. I end up just pouring through the air holes in the last several days of the 21 days. terrible directions. I think some in another country tried to translate