How to tell if chick is about to hatch

[Pat Mcaffee]

PLEASE, HELP---I have one bantam egg in an incubator and we are in lockdown. The egg is not rolling around and has not pipped and it is the end of day 19- the appropriate hatching time for a bantam. If it is not rolling, is it time to hit panic mode? Last time I candled the egg, it was looking fine other than the fact that I could sort of see through the top of the egg. It did not smell rotten but looked a little stressful. Is it time to hit panic made?

 

[Pyxis]

Bantams can take 21 days, just like LF chickens. I wouldn't be panicking yet. Also, eggs don't always move and roll around before they hatch. In fact, the majority of them don't. If you want, you can candle and see if you see movement or an internal pip.

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

Bantams can take 21 days, just like LF chickens. I wouldn't be panicking yet. Also, eggs don't always move and roll around before they hatch. In fact, the majority of them don't. If you want, you can candle and see if you see movement or an internal pip.

Is it okay to candle this late in the hatch?

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, it's fine I do it all the time.

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

Should I be stressed out because of the see through area on the top?

 

[Pyxis]

I'm sorry, I'd have to see it to know what you mean. Do you have a picture?

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

I'm sorry, I'd have to see it to know what you mean. Do you have a picture?

No, I don't, but there is a rather large area where I could see through the top of the egg like the chick was no longer up there. Everything else was black as it should be. It is a Partridge Wyandotte and lays very light eggs.

 

[Pyxis]

Oh, do you mean the air cell? That would be totally normal. Or something more than that?

 

[Pat Mcaffee]

Oh, do you mean the air cell? That would be totally normal. Or something more than that?

I wish. No there is the air cell on the bottom and it appears like there is almost another, smaller one on the top, however, its shape is not as definite.

 

[tuesdaze]

I was confused there for a minute! I always think of the fat end of the egg as the top and the pointy end as the bottom and I was trying to figure out why the air cell was in the pointy end. Duh, me! I have found that there is sometimes an open space in the pointy end. The chick just wasn't filling up the whole shell. Sometimes that is where I can see movement when candling at this stage.