Out of eight fertilised eggs that were given to me (and kept in much less than optimal conditions for a couple weeks), these two came to us on sat (day 20) and sun (day 21). Sunday’s chick was trying well over 12 hours to get out, had unzipped most of the way but the membrane wasn’t allowing it. I gently wet and peeled a bit of the membrane, and peeled off some shell too, and within ten minutes it got itself out! Being my first hatch I was so afraid to intervene but glad I did now (Obvs I read up on it before doing it).
These two’s eggs were much larger than the others. We opened the other eggs which didnt hatch, and one was a super early quitter/embryo (literally just yolk and some blood vessels stuck to the shell). Two were tiny little foetuses that hadn’t developed past about a cm or two in size. Three unfortunately were fully formed chicks, one had even absorbed most of the yolk. I‘m wondering if the humidity levels were too low for these guys? Although the membranes didnt seem dry or anything. Like I said, they were dodgy eggs so maybe they just developed in the wrong position to break through at the end?
I’m so glad the second one came along though! I was getting anxious at the thought of the other one being alone.
Any advice or links for a first time chick raiser pls share
PS I don’t know what breed they are but the eggs were pretty big and the ‘standard’ egg colour, and the cockerels were very big and black. So any guesses welcome and we can see if anyone’s right!
