Hatching Question

[rmh0508]

So yesterday was day 18 last night I took the eggs out of the turner. When I was taking them out I noticed one had already started to pip (this was around 11 pm) now to day It is still in there and not showing any progress as far as hatching. Is it normal to pip this early? And should I help it along?

 

[Chickie15]

If the temperature was even a little bit too high it could cause the eggs to pip early. It should be fine, just leave it for at least 24 hours before you even attempt to help it out. The less you open the bator the better! Hope this helped

Ashley

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Quote:
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[Gypsy07]

Are they bantams or a smaller breed by any chance? They usually develop more quickly than the larger breeds. If not, then such an early pip would most likely indicate that your temps have been high, which usually speeds up development. Either that or this egg had started to develop already when you first put it in the incubator. That seems to have been happening quite a lot recently with the hot weather some parts of the US has been having.

I'd say leave it alone and see how it does. There's a small chance that because it had already pipped when you had the incubator open, it might have shrinkwrapped and be stuck inside the shell. But there's also a much bigger chance that it could go on and hatch normally all by itself, and by opening the bator to help this one before you even know if it's actually necessary, you would be putting all the other ones at risk...

I know how hard it is, but leave it for a while and see what happens.

 

[rancher hicks]

First 21 days is only subjective. They may hatch early or late. It's best to leave things as is and give them time. You may need to pull the first chick if they hatch too early and wait. I've had them take a few days. Since chicks can live for three days with out food and water I just leave them. Under no circumstances should you help. If they can't make it on their own there is a reason and usually not a good one. Too early is day 19 or so. You can never really tell about these things. Mother hens rotate the eggs so they will hatch around the same time. In the incubator the temp is not the same in all areas so some eggs hatch early some late. Be patient and sit on your hands to go for a drive.

I will offer you a copy of a hatching article I have from Practical poultry magazine. You will have to send me your e-mail address though.

I wish you the best,

Rancher

 

[rmh0508]

Thank you all for the quick response. These are RIR crosses and they were collected from a friend's coop the day they were laid. The incubator is a foam Little Giant. It belongs to my uncle and he has not had much success with his hatches so he asked me if I wanted to try it out. I have been having trouble keeping the temp just right and it has been bouncing around between 100 and 102.5 at one point it did get up to around 103. Any suggestions there? It is in my basement which holds pretty steady at about 60-65 degrees.

 

[Chickie15]

We have 2 LGs so I know what you mean about the temp bouncing around. We usually end up duct taping the entire outsie of the bator to help hold the temp more steady!

It works pretty well though!

Ashley

 

[rmh0508]

Well as of 10pm I have 2 hatched and they seem to be doing ok. 5 more left to go

 

[Wyogirl]

Ayda