How long does a pip need to be.........(PIC!!!)

k2chickens

Songster
10 Years
Apr 22, 2009
1,757
4
171
New Castle, Indiana
untill i need to start worrying?? Reason i ask is because i got my first pip today at 2:45 am and it has yet to make any more progress???

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I worry a little at 12 hours. By 24 hours, I've usually given up on the poor thing. I don't think I've ever had one zip after 24 hours.

I helped one out at 23 hours. It's feet and ankles were quite deformed looking. I rubbed them a couple of times a day trying to get them to the point where the little thing could walk. Rubbing on the bottom of the feet to get them to look like real ones. Straightening out the toes, too.

After 2 days the little thing started to actually walk on its feet properly even though it still needed a little work to get the toes to stop curling to the side.

Then I noticed that it would lean up against the side of the brooder with the right leg sort of thrown out to the side. So I rubbed it's leg joints and where the leg joined to the back every so often each day.

By day 5 that little chick was acting just like the others. Running and actually scratching, etc. No longer leaning. Chickens are resilient creatures that amaze me with their ability to survive. (Like after a skunk ripped a piece of skin off of one of our chickens legs.)

BUT!!! Now I've introduced the "can't zip" gene (there's not really one of those) into the flock if I breed this chick. So I am not happy about that. But I can breed it right back out by never helping a chick that's only pipped ever again.

There's always a reason why they only pip and don't zip and don't make it out. To me, it's a weakness that should be bred right out. That's how Mother Nature would take care of it in the wild. (not that I always agree with Mother Nature)

Do you have time to give us an update?
 
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They can take 24-48 hours to fully emerge from the egg. Be patient and let the chick do it's thing. Some will pip and rest for long periods, while others will pip and emerge quickly. There is no set time for how fast they should hatch. There is a process going on inside the egg. Good luck with your hatch.
 

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