Just need some calm reassuring advice from people who are more experienced! ><

[kwinnypoo]

Ok... my first time hatching at home, and I'm a nervous nelly... One egg pipped some time yesterday, and has still not made it out of the egg, approx 24 hours later... maybe more, since I'm not sure what time it pipped. It has not rotated to the zip yet, and it appears to be breathing laborously now...(maybe I'm just nervous and exaggerating). Another egg has hatched, and is crashing into the other eggs (leaving it in there for stimulation for the other eggs)... Two more have pipped sometime today. The chick that is hatched is peeping and the other is peeping in the egg in response. Anything I can do, or is this chick going to die??

 

[Life is Good!]

Sometimes chicks take a while to get out of their shell. Because it's still peeping at it's sibling, that's a good sign. Yes, they breathe hard in the shell, remember, it's a LOT of work to get out! If you can see close enough, make sure the chick still has it's egg tooth (little tiny bump on end of beak). If so, it should make it out.

 

[kwinnypoo]

Ok I'll look for the egg tooth, I can clearly see the beak if I peel back the membrane a bit... So worried for it.

 

[kwinnypoo]

There was NOT an egg tooth on this chick that I could see, and I could see the front of it's beak...

 

[little buff]

I would wait one more day but put a breathing hole in the aircell of the egg but be carefull of the chick

 

[kwinnypoo]

It has a breathing hole... I was worried about that last night, so I ripped a small hole in the membrane. More ripping today by the chick, and there is no bleeding from the membrane... It's been like this already for at least a day if not more... You think two days like that is ok?

 

[BaconNEggsFarm]

Good luck,let us know how it turns out.

 

[kwinnypoo]

Well I have to admit, I helped the chick out. As I was peeling away small portions of shell, the entire membrane was dried out.... As I was continuing to tear the membrane, not a single drop of blood was shed... I opened the top (mimicing the natural de-shelling the chick would do) and touched it's head a little... All the sudden, it popped it's head out of it's position under it's wing. I kept it wrapped in a warm paper towel that way, and when we came back to check on it, it had popped all the way out, and was on it's back, struggling to right itself. I just put it on it's feet and have left it alone since then. We'll see how it turns out... It's got enormous feet! I'm thinking it was too large to turn in the egg, and got dried out in the process.

 

[Life is Good!]

Congrads on the new chick! Yes, their feet do look huge when first hatched - it's because their fluff hides how tiny they truly are! Don't worry, they'll grow into 'em!

 

[Nsampsel]

Need pix

And I have had to help several of mine out this hatch. Power went out for over 48 hrs & humidity skyrocketed so thinking they got too fat & couldn't turn. Membranes were all as dry as they were supposed to be, but chicks couldn't get turned inside the eggs. The ones I waited too long to check didn't make it.