Chicks hatched early

[blitz1027]

Hey all I just wanted to ask is it unusual for eggs to hatch 3 days early? Day 21 is supposed to be this Tuesday but low and behold I check my incubator about noon and I have seven biddies. I have since had two more hatch though and they are beautiful. But seeing as how this is my first hatch I gotta know. Is it weird for them to hatch three days early?

 

[KWAK]

i had one hatch 5 days early... its parents are both standard size chickens but he is the size of my bantam chicks that are 2 days older than him... he seems and acts fine????

 

[Tiramisu]

If you have a spike in temperature it can cause them to hatch earlier, but they are fine.

 

[Deanner03]

I agree...if temps run high you can have some early hatches. That being said...we've had it happen just randomly with no spikes. We tend to have more problems with unabsorbed yolks, etc on those.

 

[blitz1027]

Yeah a couple of them didn't have the yolk completely absorbed. I did have a couple other questions also. How long should I wait before throwing out the eggs that didn't hatch? I had a couple of D'uccle eggs in there but they haven't started to hatch yet and. How long should it take for a chick to break out of it's shell? I have one chick thats been trying to get out for the last couple hours. Should I leave it or should I help it?

 

[chevgrl]

You should give you chick the has pipped atleast 24 hrs to finish zipping... Birthing yourself is strenuous and often require a long nap

i usually give my eggs 2 extra days to hatch but on the 22nd day I'll listen for a heartbeat with a stethoscope. or candle to see if there is any movement.

 

[Polskirock]

I had a bunch of eggs and most of them hatched early my incubator was set at 104. I looked it up andI read that if your incubator is to hot they will hatch early. In a hotter temp the just grow faster. All the chicks that hatched early a healthy and there growing and eating well.