I am hatching my first ever egg and have a question. I started with 12 eggs and am down to just one. Today is day 21 and I checked the egg throughout the day to see if it was doing anything by 6 pm I was assuming that it too was a dud and wasnt going to do anything so I gently broke open an area on the large end of the egg and much to my surprise there is a little chick moving around in there....... Now......... I have lightly covered the egg with a moist paper towel and have turned off the fan in the incubator. Everything I have seen has said to leave the egg alone as the chick will find its own way out and that the stimulation of other chicks pipping and chirping will encourage the rest of the chicks to hatch. So heres my question...... should I leave the egg alone or slightly open the top of the incubator and chirp at it?..... I know it sounds crazy but...... Im willing to help anyway I can.
Hmmmm... I never really thought of chirping helping, but it can't hurt! You could find a youtube video of a mother hen's chicks hatching, that way it has both a "mama" and "siblings" talking to it. You should probably keep the lid closed, though, just turn up the volume. It can take 21-23 days to hatch (sometimes longer) so just wait and see what happens. Maybe this one???
Thank you, unfortunately I have 16 more eggs in the incubator that are due to hatch next week so I have to turn them three times a day. We will see how things to. Thanks again for your response.
Try chirping and see if it moves! When my chick had pipped my mom came over and talked to the egg (yeah it sounds kinda crazy.. XD) and it was just moving around like crazy and when she stopped the egg didn't move as much.
One the egg pipps you should not open the bator for any reason. The membrane around the inter egg will dry and shrink wrap the chick and it won't be able to complete the hatch. Helping a chick out of the shell is one of the most dangerous things to do and also the hardest to avoid doing. If he appears to be stuck to the shell you might try misting a little warm (not cold or hot) warm water on the egg (only misting) GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR LITTLE GUY
