How long can zipping possibly take?

[suzpyoung]

We've been on day 22 since 9:00 p.m. yesterday; two of the eggs that were under my broody hatched on day 19, three in the 'bator on day 20, and this last little baby has been hollaring for about 30 hours. There's about a 1/2" or so zip. Should I be worried?

 

[FenDruadin]

How long has it been zipped that 1/2 inch? It could be stuck. Is the hollaring good and strong? I would let it sit at 1/2 inch for 10 hours or so, as long as it sounds strong, and then begin to help slowly and carefully according to instructions available elsewhere on this site. As long as he's hollaring good and loud, I wouldn't be worried. He's far enough along that he can probably be helped safely if he needs it, but it's best if he gets himself out.

If he starts to noticeably weaken (he may take breaks, which is not a problem, but if his chirping gets kind of weak or hoarse, that's a problem), I would probably go ahead and start the process of helping.

Good luck to him.

 

[suzpyoung]

It's been well over 10 hours for the 1/2 inch zip.

I believe we're going to help. We lost one chick that got barely beyond a pip, and the chick looked large for the egg. So I wonder if it was really difficult to move around because of that.

 

[FenDruadin]

I would help too. Good luck. Let us know how it goes!