I thought it was over, but...

[TimG]

It's been over 48 hours since the first chick in my incubator started hatching and there was no more "action", figuring the hatching was over, I started to investigate to see which unhatched eggs developed.

Two chicks had dimpled their eggs, but not broken through the membrane and shell. Obviously these guys had developed, but I thought I'd take a peek to see what might have gone wrong. People do this, right?

I took away the small broken piece of shell and poked through the membrane and found two peeping chicks.

For now, I've put them back in the incubator in hopes that they will do the rest themselves now that I've given them a boost. But, I am, of course, wondering if I should provide more assistance. I sort of know the answer is "no", but am looking for opinions.

I've also halted my investigation.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

What day are you on? They are very slow to hatch and I've had it take days in between hatchings. Don't give up until day 25!

 

[TimG]

They started hatching on day 20 and we're now on day 22. But, as I said, it's been over 48 hours since the first chick hatched.

Last night when I went to bed there was one active egg and these two that had been dimpled for hours. This morning, the active egg had produced a chick and there appeared no change on the two dimpled eggs.

Last time (the first time) I hatched eggs, I waited 2-3 days after the last "action", waiting and hoping, and nothing further happened. So, I figured this time I would not be the silly optimist.

 

[TimG]

The two that I helped a bit are now out of their shells and moving around the incubator!