How long does it take?

[Chick1043]

What's the longest it takes for a chick egg to hatch? I mean after it pips. Yesterday 1 of them hatched (4 days early) and it took 6 hours. Today another one piped and its been 6 hours and its in the same place and all..Yes, still breathing. And also, how can you tell if the membrane has shrink wrapped? Thanks.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Hey! It's me again. I have 2 pips in the bator now. Hatch day is Sunday and so they are ~4 days early. It can take 24 hrs for a chick to hatch. Personally, I don't wait that long before I intervene. If there is no progress after 8-10 hrs, I investigate what the issue may be. As far as shrink-wrapping, I'm not sure you can tell without removing some of the shell and outer membrane. Remember there is more than 1 membrane inside the shell. The outer most membrane is more white, opaque but that is normal.

 

[Chick1043]

So she I see what's wrong in an hour or two? By the way! Congrats on your eggs! xD

 

[rarely bored]

I've had the early hatchers take up to 24 hours to hatch. It seems the chicks that begin pipping closer to their due date hatch quick, while the early ones take their sweet time. Remember when they are pipping the tapping and breaking the shell causes the blood vessels to quit pumping blood so the chick can hatch safely. If you begin to pull off the egg shell you will probably see a bit of bleeding and the yolk may not be all the way absorbed.
If the chick is breathing ok, and what you can see moves around freely, then the best thing to do is to sit on your hands. There are threads on shrink wrapping around here somewhere, along with instructions on how to unwrap them if you feel like you should know more about it.

Hatching is sooo fun!! Hope you get some cuties.

 

[Chick1043]

Welp! It hatched about 20 minutes ago! So cute! 2nd chick so far out of six! Although both 4 and 3 days early..Just a little worried about that.