guineas hatching, when should I help?

[guinea fowl galore]

3 guinea fowl piped yesterday about 24 hours ago and tried to zip but it's just a smallish crack and nothing else has happend.
so is this normal? if not when should I help them out?

 

[guinea fowl galore]

anyone

 

[Guinea Goonie]

As long as they have access to the atmosphere OUTSIDE of the egg I would let them go for a bit longer. Make sure your humidity is good and the membrane does not dry up. This is the thing to look for before you go to help out.

As you know, Guinea egg shells are harder than chicken eggs. The chick may just be taking a break and absorbing its egg yolk sac before continuing on.

If you do intervene, make SURE you do not go below the eggs air sac line at first. Let the chick struggle first and be sure the egg is on its side if you take off the shell.

If you see ANY blood, stop immediately. Sometimes you have to "unfold" the chick from the egg. You will know what I mean if you see it.

Good Luck, let us know what happens.

 

[guinea fowl galore]

thankyou so much, I will probably wait untill tomorrow to help because they have all piped.
is there any harm in leaving them in there if they can't get out?

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Do Not leave them in too long. If you see ONE out this most likely means the rest will follow suite during that time period.

Usually a Guinea hatch is uneventful. Remember it takes 28 days for the hatch for Guineas.

Look inside the pip to make sure that you SEE the beak and hopefully movement within.

You may experience "bad legs" if they stay too long in the egg.

Here is a pick of a few CHICKENS I had to help out. Hope this give you an idea of what to expect.

 

[b52fizzle]

the only problem with "helping" is you now have a weakened link in your breeding chain, most who breed would only help if it is only one or two eggs of a breed or rare breeds that only lay a couple eggs and are doing it for preservation but will eventually cull the eggs that are like this once they have established a number of breeder birds.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

The two chicks you see in my pic.... The one turned out to be a BRUT of a rooster leghorn and the other turned into a nice leghorn hen. Both are STILL running the property and they are well over 2 years old now.

 

[fly]

I took this picture of Junior, Kukla and ditto in my back yard, have you seen it before?

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I've never had to help my guineas out of their eggs. They tend to POP out of their shells. And let me warn you, they're fast! If you're not ready when you open the lid of that incubator, they'll run right out! I learned the first time I hatched some! LOL

Hopefully they're just taking a break and soon you'll have guineas POPPING all over the place!

Laurie

 

[MuranoFarms]

Quote:

You made me spit my tea all over the keyboard!