Malposition chick in egg

[N F C]

Hi, hope you'll keep us posted on how things work out!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy, and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your timecolonization.

Good luck with a successful hatch!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Good luck with your hatch.

 

[Mill Chick]

Update on the eggs please

 

[Raisin_The_Chicken]

hello and welcome!

 

[zippy722]

Update on the eggs please

I ended up helping mine a bit last night, and woke up to 2 new babies this morning, from 2 separate eggs. I had 2 that had pipped yesterday and both were taking quite a while. I helped the one that was malpositioned and not the other. And everyone seems healthy! I appreciate all of the advice.

 

[casportpony]

Hi,

Thank you for welcoming me to this community. Today is 4/10/25. My chicks are on day 19 of incubation, and one of my eggs has pipped on the opposite end of its air cell. She/he has been pecking at it for about 8-10 hours, and only has a very, very small air hole. She is chirping occassionally. When do I assist, if at all? I don't want to open the incubator unnecesarily.

Thank you for your advice!
M

Welcome to BYC. I was thinking about how to word my reply, then I read @MountainWoman73's post

When chicks pip outside the air cell like that, they need a longer interval between pip and zip. Think of it this way: instead of an internal pip, they had to make an external pip. Internal pipping usually happens 12-24 hours prior to external pipping. So they need that extra 12-24 hours to rest and finish absorbing yolk before they are ready to hatch. They may hatch on their own, but often they need help because the membrane gets too dry or because they are positioned in a way that makes it hard to zip out.

I had one that pipped outside the air cell in my last hatch and she made it. I enlarged the hole just barely when she had been pipped for 24 hours, saw blood and stopped. Then waited another 12 hours, and peeled away a little more. Then waited a few more hours, and peeled away about half the shell. We put her back and she pushed out the rest of the way on her own.

Good luck to both your chicks.

And this is good advice, too.

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

The important thing: They are getting air now.

It can hatch that way. Let it keep at it from the point it pipped to 24 hours later. If it's not out after 24 hours, or not making some progress, you can consider assisting it.

Here's an excellent article how best to do that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-assisted-hatching-for-all-poultry.72886/

Wishing you a great hatch!

Good luck, and keep us posted!