Do I help???

[Johnsons hungry hens]

Currently hatching Maran chicks-on day 22.
We have 2 hatched and another 3 pipping.
my question is one of the eggs has a crack/pip on the pointy end of the shell with what looks like scrambled egg on it. It does have a crack further away from this crack but due to the newborns bashing about in there I can’t tell if the chicks have cracked the egg or not. Should I try to help or not? Don’t want to do anything that might harm this egg or the other 2 that are currently hatching??
help?

 

[Mvan42]

Pictures will help. How long since the pip/ crack? Is the scrambled egg looking stuff coming out of that egg, if so it may not make it sounds like it might have busted the yolk sack which needs to be absorbed.. I haven’t had to handle a hatch where the chick isn’t positioned right. I did just loose one which wasn’t in the right position.. others will know more who have had this situation before..

If the crack is recent I would wait to see what happens. If it’s been over 24 hours I would take a peek to see what was going on.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

The "scrambled egg" your describing sounds like egg waste from inside the egg of one of the already hatched chicks. As chicks continue to hatch it will get messier in the incubator.

What date did you set the eggs? Is it possible that you counted the day you set the eggs as day 1 instead of day 0? That would mean you're actually on day 21 and they're not late yet.

I would be patient with the little one that pipped upsidedown, when you see a chick that pips in the pointy end of the egg it's both the internal and external pip in one go so it can appear to take twice as long as the chicks that are internally pipped for hours before externally pipping.

 

[Johnsons hungry hens]

Thank you to both of you- it does now look like waste from another egg and not from that egg.
I do have another egg that pipped ages ago but even though I can see it through the crack has lost energy to finish the job. Also my water reservoirs seem nearly empty - do I fill them up or wait till this chick has hatched- and do I help break the last of the egg?? I’m reluctant to interfere in case I do more harm than good

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thank you to both of you- it does now look like waste from another egg and not from that egg.
I do have another egg that pipped ages ago but even though I can see it through the crack has lost energy to finish the job. Also my water reservoirs seem nearly empty - do I fill them up or wait till this chick has hatched- and do I help break the last of the egg?? I’m reluctant to interfere in case I do more harm than good

It's usually better to wait though I have done plenty of assisted hatches if I'm down to a late straggler or two that may be struggling. These are a couple of great articles on assisted hatches that I would highly recommend reading through before stepping in if that's what you decide is needed.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching.64660/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/
If you don't have a way to add water from the outside of the incubator I usually use a straw and a condiment container or a syringe filled with water to add the water through the vent hole instead of opening it when possible.

 

[chickens really]

You can add water..They actually don't lose humidity that quickly..