HELP! I have a chicken egg I noticed pipped this morning but he hasn't broken the white membrane under the shell. I noticed it around 730 so it's been at least 3 hours ( probably a bit longer). I have a duck egg that's also hatching in the same incubator . I haven't seen the chicken egg move, heard it cheep, or seen any progress. Could he have suffocated since the white membrane under the shell is still intact? I'm scared to open the incubator since I have another egg hatching but I'm wondering if I need to break that membrane.
You can if you wish, but I would not. To me, that looks like a normal pip. I find the more I interfere the more problems I cause. It’s really hard to know when you need to interfere. If you break that membrane and the chick has not adsorbed all the blood in the blood vessels outside its body you could cause it to bleed. If you open the incubator during hatch, especially when an egg has external pipped, it is possible you can cause problems. Normally you do not cause problems, but it is possible. Some people open the incubator all the time during a hatch and hardly ever have problems. Others disagree, but I consider it good practice to not open the incubator without a good reason during lockdown. But if I have a problem I’ll open the incubator and deal with it.
That agree, that does look like a normal pip, and it does take a while from pip to hatch, sometimes 24 hours.
I too agree with @Ridgerunner that your pip looks normal. Although you may not see the membrane broken the chick will have made enough of a break through to be getting oxygen. Often pips just start with the smallest crack but as the hatching process continues the pip can get bigger. Try not to be too concerned about no movement or hearing peeping all the time. Hatching is a very long and slow process and chicks often take breaks to rest. During this time they also have the yolk and blood vessels to absorb. I'm afraid it's a waiting game for you now as it can take up to 24 hours after the initial external pip before they zip and hatch. Good luck with your hatch
