Is this an internal pip?

[MillersFarm]

I remember my first hatch... I went to check on the broody. It was day 19 i believe and i heard some pipping coming from the nest.. And so i lifted my broody up to see one little egg hatching. It was a WCB polish bantam that was hatching, The next day day 20 the little guy was out of his egg already! It felt so amazing i couldnt sleep at all the night before

 

[chicknovice123]

Oh gosh, so that was a bit earlier?! I don't think I'm going to know what to do with myself these next few days

 

[tuesdaze]

Based on my experiences and research, here is some information (probably too much).

If day 18 starts late tomorrow afternoon, lockdown would start late afternoon the next day. Days are counted at the end of each 24 hour period. I think of it like birthdays - you are age one after you have lived twelve months. An egg is day 1 after it has incubated for 24 hours. Lockdown begins at the end of the 18th 24 hour period, day 18, like an eighteenth birthday. Lockdown is three 24 hour periods, hopefully with hatching during the third one of these periods. In your pic, it looks like the air cell is mostly covered by the candler. A little bit of it is visible in the lower right area. It's the part that looks like it's glowing. What you see moving, in the other area that the light shines through, looks like it is still inside the membrane and is some part of the chick moving around. Some possible reasons this egg looks different than the others: the chick may be in an odd position (maybe those are feet); the chick may be smaller or less developed; there may be a lot of fluid still in the egg; or I'm sure there other reasons that I don't know yet. I did read that bantam chicks have been known to hatch on day 19 and if this was an internal pip, some people would go ahead and lockdown and some would not lockdown until there is an external pip. I always make that decision on a case-by-case basis and the criteria may change depending on what I have learned since the last time I had to make that decision. Right now, about the only thing to do is wait, watch and hope.

 

[chicknovice123]

Thanks for the reply! Sorry the pic isn't that clear. I'm fairly sure the large lighter area is all air cell, it's the same shape but grown quite a lot compared to the pencil lines where I tried to mark the air cell development before. I think the extra bright bit on the bottom right is where some light from the candler is spilling up the side of the egg, externally (they're only little eggs!).

Update this morning is that I've just checked them again and I'm quite sure the egg wriggled and I heard a tiny cheep (twice!). They were really tiny cheeps, mind, so now I'm questioning it(!) but I'm sure (I think!) I heard it!

Am I going to cause a problem if I lock them down early?

Thanks

 

[chicknovice123]

Another update - we're just about into day 18. The egg now has an external pip and quite a bit of cheeping.

Just really hope this first chick isn't over-eager to get out.

 

[tuesdaze]

Lock them down. When there is an external pip they have to be locked down, because they need the extra humidity, so they don't run the risk of becoming shrink wrapped. To answer your question about an early lockdown, many peoole do lockdown early and do not have any problems. I think they wait for the first internal pip. There is a possibilty an early lockdown could cause problems, like it could cause too much moisture to remain in the egg and the chick could drown. Personally I would feel comfortable locking down with the first internal pip, because if one has pipped the others should not be too far behind, so the moisture in the egg has most likely decreased enough. If there was excess humidity during the first 18 days, there could still be excess moisture in the egg, but that's more information than is needed right now. I believe that usually if you think you heard a cheep, you did. During my first hatch, I thought I heard a cheep, but I wasn't sure so I got out the stethoscope. Regarding the air cell, where on the egg is the chick's external pip? Is it near that middle part of the egg where the light is shining through or is it closer to your pencil lines? I'm curious, because if the air cell is where you said, I need to reevaluate my information, because I thought the air cell glows brightly and the other open space lets light through, but does not glow, because it is inside the membrane and/or because there is liquid there. I'm going to go back and look at my videos to see if I completely missed that. Since this little chick is extra early, day 17 vs day 19, it might not hurt to double check your thermometers to make sure they are accurate. From my understanding, bantams hatch earlier than large fowl because of how the heat affects the smaller eggs, so I'm wondering if they are hatching even earlier due to a higher temperature. During my most recent hatch, I had six thermometers in a little giant incubator and two more that I periodically inserted through the vent holes to check the temps. Extremely excesssive! I was actually trying to determine which of the thermometers is the very most accurate and easy to read, but when I realized how many there were, I was laughing at myself! I hope hatching is progressing smoothly!

 

[chicknovice123]

Hi tuesdaze, thanks for the support!

I faffed about a bit earlier after hearing the cheeps and eventually decided to lock them down before going out for a few hours...came home to find the external pip!

Don't worry, I think you got the air cell issue right, the pip is nearer the pencil lines so no need to get the videos out

That's a great idea about the stethoscope...wish I'd thought of it and I'll definitely be getting another thermometer or 6 lol...hope I haven't cooked them too quickly

Anyway, one good thing is I'm working nights tonight so don't have to worry about 1) sleeping or 2) constant incubator checking...

Will update with the outcome

 

[chicknovice123]

Got home this morning to a very active and healthy looking chick (hatched day 18), charging about the incubator!! So chuffed
And 4 more external pips, just one looks a bit further away from the air cell lines than I'd like but hopefully will be ok.

 

[PoultreeKing]

Sorry, I wasn't clear, it's a bantam chicken! Haha, I'm definitely flustered! I'm not sure but think some countries call them cochins??

I have had many chicks hatch on days 19 and 20, but only once on day 18, and it was a bantam but don't worry just go as planned and lockdown tomorrow it won't effect him because even if he does want to hatch now it will take him a long time so he won't hatch at least until tomorrow.

 

[PoultreeKing]

Hi everyone, I'm a novice hatcher with 10 pekin eggs in my little incubator.

We're on day 17 and I've just candled my eggs, with a view to locking down tomorrow morning (Day 18 starts late afternoon tomorrow). There's one egg that's put me in a bit of a fluster. Sorry about the picture quality...hopefully the pic is below. It looks like there's something in the air cell? Quite a bit of movement. Sometimes it looked like whatever it was is near the egg's shell, sometimes it went more blurry and looked further away?

I'm wondering if this could be an internal pip? If so, I guess I should I lock them down now? If it's not, can you tell me what's going on? None of the other eggs showed this.

Thanks for any help!
View attachment 1076487

Btw extra shadows are normal and i do think it indicates that this chick is close to hatching but as i said do things as planned and lockdown tommor, don't worry