How long does it take to actually hatch?

[melgsix]

Two of my eggs started hatching this morning and they were both peeping and moving aroud but now the first one is hardly moving and not making any noise at all. It only piped a small hole and gave up. The other chick piped a bigger hole and is still making some noise but isn't trying to hatch any more. Their membranes are getting dry and leathery. Should I intervein? I had 2 others that were rolling around and making little chirps but now they aren't moving or making any noise at all. I don't know what to do.

 

[JRT]

I'm not going to say you should help because i can't look directly at your eggs. What I will tell you is that I have had to help chicks get out of eggs before because sometimes in the incubators the eggs seem to be harder to get out of than if they were set on by the hen.

 

[OCchickens]

There's a long thread somewhere (?in the learning center, or a sticky) on helping -- i would suggest reading that if you're thinking about it.

I was about to help a chick on my last hatch b/c it was 15 hours after all the other chicks had hatched & it hadn't made progress for that long, and the membrane over the hole looked very dry & leathery. I ended up NOT helping after I read a few cautionary posts that made sense to me -- I was about to dive in before that because so many were positive about helping.

I ended up being glad that I didn't help. The chick was still peeping loudly. I finally went to bed & woke up 2 hours later to loud peeping from the bator. He had gotten out, & the membranes aside from right over the hole were very pink & moist. I'm not so sure I would worry so much about dry-looking membrane in the future. I think he just wasn't ready. You know if you help before they've finished the "draw down" of blood from the membranes & absorbing the yolk, they can bleed to death & die.

Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[melgsix]

The chick that wasn't doing so good died. We opend the shell a little to se what was going on and most of the membrane was dry and leathery. The other chick is still making noise and moving around so we're gonna let him be for now, but I don't want this one to die as well. My husband candeled they other two eggs and there was no movement in one and very litlle movement in the other so we're just waiting to what happens.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

IMO once the membrane is dried out it makes it very hard for the chick to spin around and zip the egg. Once the egg is pipped the chick will rest for about 12 hours and then begin to zip. That will take a few hours itself. When did you notice it pipped? I give them up to 24 hours and if I notice the membrane is just too dry for them then I will help. So far every chick I helped out has done just great and is thriving today. You have to be very careful when helping them out because they can bleed very easily. Chip the shell first and then work slowly on the membrane. I would do like the others said and read the sticky for info. It's where I got the info and my chicks did wonderful. Not all people here will agree with helping but when it comes to a dry membrane there is a good chance the chick is in great shape but was not able to move to help itself. GOOD LUCK in whatever you decide to do.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[melgsix]

All morning I kept hearing tiny little chirps but thought I was crazy because when I would check there were not chicks piping out yet and then around 9:30am I noticed about 4 eggs moving around and chirping a lot. About 30 minutes later I noticed tiny holes in 2 of the four eggs. Now one has died, one is still resting I guess, and two are questionable.

 

[OCchickens]

Best wishes & let us know how it goes...

 

[melgsix]

We have a chickie!!!!!

My husband went to go check on him around 2:30 this morning and he was snuggled up between three other eggs. I would post pics, but I don't know how.

 

[OCchickens]

Congrats!!!

To post a pic you go to uploads (near the top of the page in the blue bar, with index, user list, rules, search, etc), then browse to the photo & upload it. To put it in your post you just copy the link & paste it in.

Good luck & hoping to see a pic!

 

[melgsix]

Pics of the chick