Is this egg "pipped"?

[Amy's Animals]

Hi chicken lovers, this is my first time hatching eggs and today is the due date! This morning, at approximately 8:30 AM one egg has a slightly pushed up, circular crack in the shell, is that considered a pip? or does the shell have to be completely pushed off, leaving a hole? It's been like this all day and now there is another tiny pushed up crack as well going down lengthwise a little and then veering off to the width, is this suppose to happen? Thank you all

 

[speckledhen]

YES! Pip! It's a pip!

 

[chickenlittle32]

That is considered a pip! Just remember DO NOT open the incubator!!!

that they all hatch! Good luck! The next step is zipping...that's when they start to go cracking the egg all the way around! It can take some time...

 

[FenDruadin]

Yup! And don't forget--it can take 24-48 hours to go from "pip" to "zip," so don't get nervous or anxious. The little one is just taking a break. Good luck with the hatch! This is most definitely the coolest part!!

 

[Amy's Animals]

I have openend the incubator though! I have 9 other eggs in there that wont hatch for 1-2 weeks so I HAVE to turn them. How does opening it briefly affect the pipping chick?

 

[chickenlittle32]

It will mess up the moisture and can dry out the one that is pipped!

 

[Amy's Animals]

The humidity only dropped 1 or 2 degrees when I openend it, I highly doubt will cause to much trouble. How does that work naturally then? While the momma hen leaves the nest to go about on her duties and feed, the eggs are also exposed to a much lower humididty.

 

[GaNewChick]

When you open the lid ~ a rush of dry air can enter the incubator and can cause problems for the one pipping. How many more do you have to hatch with this one?

 

[FenDruadin]

I cannot speak from experience, as I think duck eggs are a little less finicky than chicken eggs. But one thing to keep in mind, is that if your hygrometer reads 1 or 2 degrees lower, you have actually lost considerably more humidity than that--it can't measure & adjust as quickly as the humidity can change.

You're right about the momma hen, but remember that you have already messed up the "natural" order of things by sticking everything in an electric incubator, and so you can't necessarily expect that what is okay for the momma is also okay for the incubator. After all, the momma doesn't need pans of water to regulate humidity, and she doesn't need ventilation holes. Her humidity requirements are different too, because under a hen the air is not moving--and therefore wicking moisture--as quickly as it is in a heated incubator, with air passing in and out very quickly in response to the temp differential between outside the incubator and inside (and aided by a fan if you have a circulated model). Consider the difference in your personal moisture level at 95 degrees--with and without a fan blowing. Are you dryer when it's blowing? You bet.

So I tend to trust the many voices on this board who say opening the incubator is not a good thing during those last few days. It can suck the moisture right out of the egg membrane and shrink wrap the chick inside the egg. I don't think this *always* happens, but it certainly can happen and is a risk to consider.

That having been said, you are not the first person on earth (or even on this board) to have a staggered hatch, and obviously we all open our incubators occasionally to deal with one issue or another. So you are probably not ruining the hatch by opening it. But you might have a lower hatch rate, so it's best if you minimize the opening as much as you feasibly can.

Regardless of all that--GOOD LUCK! Hatching is so much fun!

 

[Amy's Animals]

this is the only one hatching on this date, there will be 9 other eggs hatching on the 10th