It's been 12 hours since the egg pipped, and I can see its little beak with a flashlight but the baby doesn't seem to want to keep going... I'm worried that its going to dry out. What do I do?
It's been 12 hours
- Thread starter Mycookoonest
- Start date
Is it in the incubator when you look at it with the flashlight????? Taking it out will dry it out for sure. I would wait--hopefully he will pop out soon!
What does your humidity look like right now?
- Thread starter
- #4
Yeah it's in the bator... I have a clear top. My humidity is at 80% (that's measured with an outdoor thermometer weather station thing). But the membranes by the shell look like paper...
This is my first hatch and I'm so nervous. The second egg that pipped has done another crack in the egg...
This is my first hatch and I'm so nervous. The second egg that pipped has done another crack in the egg...
Keep waiting - I had one that took forever to come out LOL I had given up and there he was in the morning!
Louella
Louella
- Thread starter
- #6
ok... sitting on my hands... checking the bator every 2 seconds for any kind of sign he might be doing something. I do shine the flashlight in there to make sure he's breathing though... it's kinda cool to see him just hanging out... little beak opening and closing really fast...
Be Patient!!...It can take 24 hours for the chick to pip and then start the zipping around the egg....sometimes longer....
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #8
Ugh... if I wasn't pregnant I would totally be having a captain and diet coke right now... It's getting dark now so maybe I should just call it a night (5:00 comes early) and see what i have in the morning...
Yea right like I'm going to sleep...
I dreamed last night my chicks were hatching...
Yea right like I'm going to sleep...
I dreamed last night my chicks were hatching...
i can't wait to use my incubator................ i'll probably freak out, and end up tripping over the cord or something, thus putting into effect my bad luck lol
Pipping does not mean the chick is ready to come out, quite the contrary. I have had chicks take almost 48 hours to hatch after pipping. Pipping is just one of the early stages of the long hatching process. Please read the sticky at the top of this category as it will exlplain why you need to leave it alone. Here is one portion of that thread:
Drawdown occurs when the air cell changes shape as the embryo, using the egg tooth, punctures the inner shell membrane and enters the air cell. The egg is designed to allow ease of exit from the egg, and the egg tooth is used to begin unzipping the eggshell in a circular manner, usually at the larger end of the egg.
The initiation of hatch occurs partially from the increased carbon dioxide level in the egg. This causes the embryo to begin twitching it's muscles, allowing the inner shell membrane to be punctured by the egg tooth. The chick then begins breathing the air in the air cell. As the carbon dioxide level begins to rise again, the muscularis complexus (the pipping muscle) at the back of the neck begins twitching again, facilitating the hatch. Abdominal muscles also begin twitching, which helps draw the yolk sac into the coelom. Leg muscle twitching helps strengthen the legs.
Assisting the hatch is a difficult decision, and in this author's experience, many aviculturists will do more harm than good by assisting the hatch. Normally the chick will hatch 24-48 hours after drawdown has occurred. By making a pin-hole in the egg shell over the air cell, the carbon dioxide level will drop, actually slowing the hatch. Making a pin-hole or opening the air cell end of the egg should only be done if the vocalization level of the hatching chick is decreasing or other signs indicating that the chick is in trouble are evident (for example, if the chick doe not pip into the air cell).
The chick typically still has a huge amount of yolk left to be absorbed at the time they pip. It is not until the yolk is drawn inside, the umbilicus closes up and the blood vessels wither that the chick can survive outside the shell. This process can take quite a while. I have a hatch going on right now and some have been pipped since yesterday and they are still not out. They are just fine.
Richard
The initiation of hatch occurs partially from the increased carbon dioxide level in the egg. This causes the embryo to begin twitching it's muscles, allowing the inner shell membrane to be punctured by the egg tooth. The chick then begins breathing the air in the air cell. As the carbon dioxide level begins to rise again, the muscularis complexus (the pipping muscle) at the back of the neck begins twitching again, facilitating the hatch. Abdominal muscles also begin twitching, which helps draw the yolk sac into the coelom. Leg muscle twitching helps strengthen the legs.
Assisting the hatch is a difficult decision, and in this author's experience, many aviculturists will do more harm than good by assisting the hatch. Normally the chick will hatch 24-48 hours after drawdown has occurred. By making a pin-hole in the egg shell over the air cell, the carbon dioxide level will drop, actually slowing the hatch. Making a pin-hole or opening the air cell end of the egg should only be done if the vocalization level of the hatching chick is decreasing or other signs indicating that the chick is in trouble are evident (for example, if the chick doe not pip into the air cell).
The chick typically still has a huge amount of yolk left to be absorbed at the time they pip. It is not until the yolk is drawn inside, the umbilicus closes up and the blood vessels wither that the chick can survive outside the shell. This process can take quite a while. I have a hatch going on right now and some have been pipped since yesterday and they are still not out. They are just fine.
Richard
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