Help! Hatching eggs.

[Kelsie_099]

I have hatched many eggs before but this has never happened to me... I recently got eggs from a different farmer then who I usually do and 5 of them started to grow embryos then stopped growing after day 5-6. 3 of them didn’t grow embryos at all. One egg grew an embryo and kept growing and now when I candle I can’t see anything in the egg but the air pocket. It’s day 20 now but I’m not sure how to tell if the egg is still alive at this point because it’s not moving and I don’t hear peeping... I really don’t want to give up on this egg... But I don’t even know if it’s still alive which is upsetting... Would it be bad for me to open the egg? Or could that kill the chick if it doesn’t come out on it own? My chicks always hatch on their own and on day 20 they’re usually moving and peeping... This is why I’m a little concerned...

 

[Zinjifrah]

I would suggest you give it at least two more days. Most chicken eggs hatch on day 21, and opening the egg too soon could, indeed, kill a live chick if it's not done very carefully and slowly. If it's dead, it'll still be dead in two days. If it's not, you may have a chick by then.

 

[MelissaRose]

Hi and welcome!
I would just leave it until day 21 or 22 and then crack it open if it doesn't hatch.
If you crack it open now it's belly button might not be healed and, it might not be fully developed in some way. It would most likely die.
Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

[Wolfsbane]

I would not open the egg, give it some time waiting for everyone to hatch and if it doesn't after all the days are up I would open it to see what's going on, it's probably a bad egg but I am always careful of stuff like that.

 

[ellie62706]

I agree, opening the egg could cause more harm than good.