Does this hatching chic look OK to you?

[bigzio]

Patience is the key here. Just wait and see. You did a great job, doing the best you could. It's just amazing how easy a mother hen makes this look when she is doing the hatching, she sits there with that look in her eye that tells you everthing is under control. Good Luck, nothing but Best Wishes.

bigzio

 

[PDJTP2006]

hows the chick?

 

[TheBigWRanch]

It's still alive, for awhile it was very active stumbling from one end of the incubator to the other, but now it is sleeping. How long should it take to stand? I have two more eggs hatching right now, and one looks like it is hatching quicker than this one, but I'll just have to wait and see!

 

[PDJTP2006]

Quote:
I hope it lives did you say that you are hatching mixed breed bantams. Im preety sure there suppose to stand an hour after hatch or less but im not 100% sure.

 

[TheBigWRanch]

Yeah, they are mixed breed bantams. I just hatched them to make sure my incubator is working correctly.

 

[TheBigWRanch]

I can't believe it, my second chick has completely hatched! I just noticed it starting to hatch at 4 PM, and now at 9, here it is. With all the problems I had with the first one I figured this one would turn out bad too. The newest one is chirping loudly, and looks a lot better than the first one. It's eyes are already open, and it's feet are out, which the first one has always had it's feet tightly curled. I think the first one was just too weak to make it out of the egg. Here's a pic of the new one.

 

[silkiechicken]

Your chicks look ALOT wetter than mine do when they hatch. Personally, if the chick has peeped I let them sit for a whole 48 hours because especially if they are early, they might not be ready yet and just want some fresh air. I had a chick pop out last who was the first to peep.

Good luck with your birds and keep us posted!

 

[robin416]

My approach to helping a chick out of the shell is very dependant on what the hatch date is supposed to be and how stable my temps were in the incubator. I had one externally pip on day 18, even if I was running higher temps that was much too early. I left it. On day 20 I peeled shell in a band around the shell and moistened the membrane, after 2 days it had begun to dry.

After about 6 hours I peeled a small portion of membrane from the pip hole and watched for bleeding. There was a drop so I stopped, remoistened the membrane and put the peep back. The peep began to open the membrane on its own until it hit a dry portion of membrane then would get stuck. I moistened that area and the peep then popped out on its own.

Its trial and error when this type of thing happens. I've learned a lot in the year since I started messing with these things and have filled my coop several times with what came out of the bators. Some go without a hitch, some are absolute nightmares. Its part of us trying to do what a hen does so well without our interference.

 

[TheBigWRanch]

The first chick started piping on day 21, and about 25 hours later on day 22, it only had an opening the size of it's beak. I thought the second chick looked awfully wet too. Is there something wrong with them if they are too wet? Here are the two now:

The yellow one has feathers on it's legs, so it must be from my buff Cochin hen, and the other looks like an Old English mix, but I'm not totally sure.

 

[jimnjay]

Cute chicks, I hope I did not give you bad advise on helping them out but in my experience after 24 hours with no progress they do not make it. Yours do seem plenty wet so I am not thinking it was stuck due to drying out. It is a gut call when and if you can help. You should always make sure they are full term before helping, I just assumed that they were when I suggested to help it out.

I used to have an incubation trouble shooting link but I can't find it so I am not sure why they were so wet, I know that incubator hatched chicks don't get fluffy as fast as one that the hen hatches. Her contact fluffs the feathers for them. I hope your little guys make it, they seem ok in the second picutre.

Chicks that have trouble breaking out often do not stand up in an hour. It is an individual thing. I have had some just flop around for several hours. As long as they do make an attempt to move and stand they just keep getting stronger and stronger.

The hard part is over, the first hatch is tough because one has no idea what to expect.