Peeping but no Pecking

[raymondjames]

My chick is comin out (well soon). It pipped a small piece of the shell the size of a lead tip of a pencil. We scratched off a teeny bit of the shell and it hasn't pipped since. There is white stuff under the brown egg shell (seems to be an inner coating ) and the pip did not make it through the white stuff but a bit of shell cracked off. Should we begin to help it out? It is definetly alive as it makes adorable peeping noises. What should i do? It hasn't pipped since it pipped first time

 

[Impress]

It is just resting, the best thing to do is leave it alone, in an incubator with good humidity, and let it do it's thing. All that pipping and peeping is hard work, it will take little naps in its egg to prepare for each new bit of hatching work it does. Yes they have an inner membrane in there, which is totally normal, it will break through it soon and start working on that hole, then on to zipping!

 

[raymondjames]

thanks! its first pip was 2 and 1/2 hours ago and we just cant wait! Also will it usually keep pipping where it started? or will it try and pip a different part of the shell?

 

[Impress]

It will work at that first pip for a while, breaking off bits and chunks, then it will start to zip, which is pecking in a straight line around the egg to make itself a lovely little escape hatch. Then you will have some kicking, some squirming, and then boom, baby chicken floundering around looking like a wet mess!

 

[shanshan51]

My first and last attempt at hatching took one almost 2 days between pip and zip. It was the last lonely chick.

 

[babigyrl22]

had the same thing happen. I thought the chick wasn't going to hatch until I took the egg out of the incubator and it started cheeping madly. I promptly put the egg back in the incubator ha! It hatched out 4 hours later. I think your chick is resting.