Day 18... chick not filling whole shell. Is it dead??

[featherhead007]

I've only hatched under a broody, but if only one of your eggs has this large an air cell and you set them all at the same time I'd suspect it's just an anomaly with the growth rate of the chick or the porosity of the shell (especially if they have different parents). If ALL of your eggs have an abnormally large air cell I'd suspect that there may have been an issue with humidity at some point in incubation. As long as there's still movement, it's still alive, and I wouldn't worry too much at this point.

Wow, I am learning something today, THANKS!

 

[chickens really]

Definitely you need an air cell for the Chicks to internally pip. Then they externally pip the shell and then zip out. About a 24 hour process from internal pip to hatched Chicks.

 

[aart]

It's now day 23 and the second egg hasn't shown any movement, but I've been reluctant to take it out and candle it because it's lockdown. What are the chances it will hatch considering what it looked like the last time I candled?

I usually wait 2-3 days after the first one hatches to call it 'done'.

 

[MysteryChicken]

It's now day 23 and the second egg hasn't shown any movement, but I've been reluctant to take it out and candle it because it's lockdown. What are the chances it will hatch considering what it looked like the last time I candled?

I had a chick hatch on day 25 before.

 

[FolkSonginC]

Would it hurt the possibly alive chick to candle and see what's going on in there?

 

[chickens really]

Would it hurt the possibly alive chick to candle and see what's going on in there?

It won't hurt it. Just opening and closing the incubator too much can interfere in humidity.

 

[FolkSonginC]

Chick never hatched... I believe it was positioned wrong in the egg. I cracked it open and the chick was fully formed, even looked like it had absorbed all the blood vessels and yolk. Was there any way to prevent this? I kept the eggs pointy end down, turned them while in storage, they were turned during incubation. Temperatures and humidity were practically perfect throughout incubation, and my other chick hatched right on day 21.