How long from first pip to hatch?

[shinyrust01]

Hi, I had a hen go set, the babies hatched on saturday 3-12, she was setting on 19 eggs, 1 baby died, she has 8 chicks, we put the eggs left on the nest in the incubator sunday morning. 3-15 about 10pm 1 of the 10 eggs in the bator has pipped thru, but only a small hole, LG bator seemed high, turned down the heat to 99.5 as recommended, it's 4am now and even though i can see the chick is alive, no more progress has been made getting out of the shell. When should I intervene and steam up the bathroom to help him out of his shell? HELP!

 

[thechickonthehill]

It can take as long as 24 hours for one to start unzipping once they have pipped. Pipping is hard work and the chick has to rest a while before it goes back to work. I've many times thought a chick must surely have died in there but then it starts working away again and hatches out. So give your chick plenty of time to make it out on its own. Also, I have learned the hard way that if a chick is not able to hatch on its own, there is usually some sort of physical problem and you are better off to NOT help it. That said, I usually help after 24 hours - and usually end up having to cull the chick anyway, but its hard to just let one die in the shell. Hope this helps a little.

 

[shinyrust01]

Thanks for the advice, yep it'd be hard to let one die, luckily not the case this time, left the little guy alone and when i got up this morning, chick had hatched and doing well, i grabbed him after a couple of hours and placed in brooder, incubator didn't lose any temp which is good since i still have eggs in it, he seemed lonely, heated a wash cloth and wrapped it around him in brooder, settled in and is sleeping. Do you think I can slip him in under the hen tonight? will she accept him? she's being such a good mom to the other chicks. Thanks for any input.

 

[thechickonthehill]

Quote:
I have had good luck slipping chicks under a broody once she's settled in for the night. As long as the new chick isn't too far behind the ones the hen already has I would think it would work. Good Luck!

 

[shinyrust01]

Thanks, think i'll try it tonight, it's only a couple of days younger than the others, i've had it under the brooder all day today, it's very strong.