Egg pipped this morning and nothing else has happened.

[flchickenlady]

I have an egg that pipped this morning, there's a little hole the chick made and got rid of the shell, but the membrane is covering it and getting dry, the humidity is at 70% Can it breath through that membrane? This hole was there when I got up at 8am and hasn't changed since. I did see beak movement through the membrane this morning but no movement since around 3 pm, I keep talking to it and nothing. Do I leave the chick alone and see what happens or help it?
This is the most nerve racking thing I've ever done.
Thanks!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

It can take them up to 24 hours from a pip on the egg til they zip out. I'd let him alone, you risk the rest of the hatch by opening the bator. Patience for him to know when its time to zip out, he is resting and learning to breathe, takes alot out of them to break thru the shell.

 

[Katy]

I agree with Tuffoldhen.

 

[Akane]

If it hasn't broken the membrane there could be a problem but there's not really much you can do. They should break through into the air cell and then break out of the shell so it creates breathing holes as they go. Are you sure your humidity gauge is accurate? When I tested my digital it was off by 4%. The problem is if your humidity is too high they will drown and if you open the bator to help you have a good chance of causing the membranes to dry out further and kill the rest of your hatch. With no other pips yet I would not open the bator. If you are uncertain of the accuracy of your humidity gauge, there is no water collecting on the windows, and you haven't hatched successfully at that humidity with that gauge before I would consider adding some water through the vent holes to raise humidity and help soften the membrane. I use aquarium airline tubing and a syringe. That's a judgement call though and hard to tell from here. Like I said too high of humidity risks drowning them in the eggs especially those that haven't pipped yet and the humidity will likely shoot up as they hatch.

My solution on my last hatch which had 3 pip weird in the middle of the egg and get stuck behind extra thick membranes was to stick a stiff wire through the vent holes in the top and poke a hole in the membranes. I couldn't just sit there watching them possibly suffocate and I couldn't open the bator so I got creative. All of those hatched fine. I did lose one that tried to pip on the bottom of the egg and one pipped but must not have developed right because when I broke the egg open after it died some of it's internal organs were on the outside.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Did you chick hatch ok?

 

[Pumpkinpup]

If your humidity is reading 70% I would NOT add more water! I hatch routinely at 55 to 65% with no problems at all! Try to be patient a little longer as I have had chicks take 2 days to get out of a shell. It is a long and slow process and we humans find it very hard to wait for the baby to come out when the time is right. It often does more damage than good to fool with the egg. Intervention should be your last course of action. I know it's terribly hard but tey to refrain from messing with it if you can

Forgive me, I just noticed the time in which you posted to this thread last. Has the baby hatched yet and is the rest of the brood hatching?

 

[flchickenlady]

Hate to update with bad news, but the chick that pipped died. The rest of the hatch didn't make it either. We ordered a forced air fan for the bater and once that's installed I'll try again. I guess it's a learning experience.
A big thanks to all who replied.
Michele

 

[Akane]

If the humidity is actually 70% I wouldn't raise it but many humidity gauges are off. Mine is 4% off which can be significant. That's why I gave other things to look for like moisture on the windows. I wouldn't hatch again without testing it just in case that's the problem.