Holy Cow, I have a chick pipping away! I need some help

[bnentrup]

Hey guys,
we have been incubating 24-eggs in a still air homemade incubator. I had some harsh conditions this past month, believe the temp was up to 104 at a few times (fluctuation with the thermostat). The humidity dropped to 20% on a few occasions (if my humidity monitor is correct). And even though we are at the beginning of day 22, I have my first chick pipping! I candled and know that I have SEVERAL that looked fine on day 18, and it has been locked down since.

Questions:
1.) how long do we wait before removing the dud eggs? Since I will be leaving the chick that hatches alone in the bator for a while, can we just leave it alone for a few days?
2.) can you please help me identify this barn-yard lot of chicks as they hatch (who knows, it may just be the one).

I had a very gracious chicken farmer give me these eggs for the cost of his eating eggs (they are all fertilized anyway) $2 per dozen. Therefore, this was a $4 experiment for our family. There are silkies, BRS, Red NH, and cuckoo marans in there. I hope that we will get a few cuckoos!

 

[pgpoultry]

Hi, I would remove the non-hatching eggs when you are sure that they are not going to hatch (this could be probably up to 4 days yet!).
Chicks are said to be able to survive up to 3 days on the remnants of yolk sac. I wouldn't leave it for that long myself, I leave the chick till fully fluffed out (several hours) and either do a very quick removal to a brood pen or provide food and water in the incubator if the incubator is suitable to do this. I know some folk would frown on this, but it has worked for me,
Good luck,
Sandie

 

[bnentrup]

Well,
probably won't need any help with this one.. it appears to be a Barred Rock

 

[bnentrup]

Quote:
thanks Sandie.. we will probably leave the door closed for a few days and just let it transpire. I will act quickly if I see anyone pecking an an unhatched egg (dud) and go from there.

There is not much ground space in the incubator though (have a bunch of eggs in there). Will this become a problem at all?

It has been 20-years since I have incubated eggs.

 

[bnentrup]

Ok, another newbie question.. he seems to be bleeding a bit much.. carrying around a bit of membrane.. possibly bleeding after he pulled himself from the egg. Is this typical? If not, can we use cornstarch to stop the bleeding?