Day 21 alive chick no air sac?

[Ash123]

I was about to throw out the last three eggs today bc I didn't see movement from the outside and the other ten had hatched Wednesday and thursday. I candled just to make sure and there was a chick moving and chirping. I can't see an air sac in it at all, so I don't have a clue how its breathing or of its going to run out of air. Should I poke a little hole in it or just let it be? It's a little egg so it may be just too big for the egg.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

They internally pip into the air sac space a day or so before external shell piping. With the chick being alive still be assured there was an air sac and they are simply already occupying it with heads.

 

[Roxannemc]

Just me i would give it some time today to external pip then i would make a little hole for it to breath then leave it alone for the day..This late you may have to help it later but see if it does it on its own first. .Good Luck!

 

[dolly85]

If you are sure there were no cool spots I would go ahead and create an external pip. A chick this late will probably need assistance in my experience. I had to assist with two in my last hatch and contrary to belief they are both healthy, thriving, and have no defects.

 

[Ash123]

Thanks everyone, I guess it obviously has an air sac because it can't hold it's breath for a full day lol. It looks really small though and if it doesn't pip soon I'm afraid it may run out of air. I'm going to give it a bit longer and if no changes then may poke a small hole. I'm scared to intervene though bc I never have before. I have a sticky chick right now and that's stressing me out enough. :/ On the bright side I do have 9 healthy babies already

 

[Ash123]

What do you poke a hole with?

 

[dolly85]

I just use a sharp tweezers and oh so carefully poke a hole at the top large end of the egg where the air sac is. Be careful so you don't poke the chick! You shouldn't see any bleeding at the top, but in case you do stop and wait an hour. I then use the tweezers to slowly enlarge the opening for the chick and dampen the membrane with warm water being careful not to get water in its nose. If you've already had a sticky chick chances are this one is having issues as well and won't be able to escape the membrane or even go from pip to zip by itself.

 

[weaversfarm]

What causes sticky chick? I will be incubating a lot this spring and in case it happens, is there anything that can be done to prevent it?

 

[sumi]

If the humidity is too low the chick may get stuck in the membrane. That's why, once the chicks start pipping you must not open the incubator except if you absolutely have to and then only for a few seconds. Have you looked at the sticky threads here? There's some great info on float testing overdue eggs, helping them hatch etc.

Here it is:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...hing-eggs-important-topic-index-please-review

 

[dolly85]

Oh jeez, don't float test an internally pipped egg! You would drown or or suffocate the poor thing. Its done to test the viability of an egg and you already KNOW its viable since you can hear it cheeping. A sticky chick or chick with difficulty getting out of the egg can be caused by too low of humidity during incubation or from opening the incubator too often or too early.