help please

[bobshammy]

It's almost the end of day 22 and I had an egg pip 16 hours ago. It's only a small outward dent and not really a hole. Should I be worried???

 

[mtngirl35]

Sometimes it can take 24 hrs. Hatching is hard work. I've always been told not to help them because if they are not strong enough to hatch on their own they won't live anyway. Don't know if I could follow that advice myself.

 

[CountryFlock]

No its normal. The chick should hatched within 30 hours from when it starts making sound. Your chick will hatch in no time.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Now that's just ducky!!!! Good luck. Seriously....good luck. On all of them!

 

[darkbluespace]

It's almost the end of day 22 and I had an egg pip 16 hours ago. It's only a small outward dent and not really a hole. Should I be worried???

Disclaimer>>>This is just my opinion and experience... but I find that when a chick has just made a crack and not a hole they are often malpositioned. I wait 12 hours or so from pip and open up a little hole where they made the crack to see how they are doing. If mal-positioned, I chip around the base of the air cell and take the top off. I put ointment on the membrane to see if veins have been absorbed. If they have then I push the membrane out of the way. Sometimes they are really packed in there and once you get the wing out then you can pull the beak down and out. Leave them in the bottom part of the shell and put them back in the incubator. They will push out when they are ready. I don't wait too long... just long enough... to help and the chicks are perfectly healthy and vital chicks. Again, just my opinion and experience... follow your own gut if you decide to help or not.

 

[bobshammy]

They turned out to be ducks instead of chicks and they both just made cracks at the top of the egg and that's as far as they got. I opened up the tops for them and let them do the rest.

 

[Orca5094]

Glad they are ok! It's always a last resort to help birds hatch, but occasionally it is necessary for them to survive.

Where did you get these eggs and how did they end up being ducks instead of chickens?? lol! Also, duck eggs don't hatch until 28 days so was there a mix-up in incubation time as well?

 

[bobshammy]

Just a neighbouring farm. Planned to incubate as a project for me and my daughter. She's said possibility of duck eggs but based on size and candling we thought chicken. And when one pipped on day 22 we assumed we were right and they were chickens.. she said she just collected them that morning so idk what happened with the whole duck needs 28 days. They seem fully formed they had completely absorbed their yolks before coming out. They are now eating drinking and peeping.

 

[Orca5094]

So strange, but it does sound like they were ready to hatch. I know sometimes eggs will develop faster if the temperature in the incubator is higher, but 6 days faster? Who knows what happened, but glad they are out and healthy! Congrats on the new little ones! ^-^