Day 21 and had to make a hole in the air cell

[Jbently28]

So today is day 21 for my last viable buff orpington egg. It internally pipped early yesterday morning. Checked on it again this morning and still no external pip. I couldn't hear and tapping or chirping so I candled it. The chick was still moving around so I decided to make an emergency air hole in the air cell close to where the chicks beak was and then placed it back under the hen. I went to go check just now and could feel and hear tapping so it looks like I made a good call just in time. On a side note, I have my last viable bantam egg that has started to internally pip as well. This egg was cracked about a week ago and I repaired it with some packing tape. So hopefully within the next 24-48 hours I'll have a couple of new little chicks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Day 21 seems very early to intervene or even be concerned

I've never checked or done anything to eggs under a broody hen.

If you have to repair a cracked egg in the future, liquid skin bandage works wonders.

 

[Jbently28]

The only reason I chose to intervene is because it had been more than 24 hours since it had internally pipped. I've had chicks before that died after their internal pip because they ran out of air and I didn't intervene. I always candle my eggs under my broodies. I live in Louisiana where it gets very hot and have had eggs explode and contaminate most of if not the entire nest. So I like to cull out the bad eggs before it happens. And packing tape was the only thing I had at the time. I would have used melted wax if I had any at the time. I've heard of other people using liquid bandage but it just seems like it would be a little harsh on the egg with all of the chemicals in it. I had another egg that I repaired with packing tape that hatched about a week ago. The crack on this one is at the pointy end so I'm not concerned with it not being able to hatch out through the tape.