Peeping to Pipping Question

[User48]

Hi All,

I just had my first successful hatch of 2 cute silkie chicks (one partridge through shipped eggs from a great breeder, one blue, through my own hen). They are alive & peeping largely thanks to my broody hen. Another egg pipped but the chick never emerged. When I opened the shell, I found a dead, but fully formed blue chick with yolk absorbed. There is one more partridge egg remaining & it is peeping up a storm but is not pipping. While using a broody has been far superior to my previous incubator attempts, I can't help but think that I probably would have intervened if I had been monitoring the blue chick through an incubator window. While there's nothing more delightful then seeing a fully dry, fluffy chick peeping away under mom, there's also no way to know if intervention is needed without constantly disturbing her (obviously not a good plan). So I guess what I'm wondering is how long this phase from peeping to pipping should take. I'm also wondering what those of you in a similar situation have done to monitor the hatch - or have you just let nature take its course & sat on your hands. Losing the one chick that I probably could have saved is haunting me a bit. Meanwhile, the peeping in egg chick is on day 22.

Many thanks,
Laura

 

[User48]

No one has been in a similar situation to this & is willing to pass along some wisdom? I'd really appreciate it. There's still plenty of peeping but no pipping. Even just a brief response to how long I should wait if nothing happens would be appreciated. Just looking for a ballpark figure of how long peeping should go on inside the shell before pipping occurs.

 

[Mareloo]

I do not know how long the phase from peeping to pipping should last. What I do know is that you still got a very good chance of hatching a perfectly healthy chick at day 22. If I were you, I would monitor the egg carefully. Only start to think of intervening when the peeping start to quite down and the egg stop moving around.

 

[User48]

Thank you! Part of the problem with monitoring is that the egg is outside, under a broody hen. I really think I would have been able to save the other fully formed chick that died in its shell had the eggs been in an incubator, and not beneath a broody. On the other hand, the broody has done a great job. I hesitate to bring the egg inside & put it in an incubator on my desk (gee, can you tell I'm getting no work done today), because I don't want to snatch it away from mom. On the other hand, it really is hard to monitor where it is now...

 

[Mareloo]

I do not think it is possible for a human with a bator to hatch an egg better than a broody...

You are in a very tough spot.. I don't even know what I would've done, in your shoes..

I will hold my fingers cross for you!

 

[arlee453]

After my experience this week, if you are SURE it's day 22 and you hear definate peeping, I'd be more inclined to intervene.

You could just 'zip' the shell for the chick and leave the membrane intact to make it easier for the chick to emerge. It is possible the chick is just not in the right position and so can't get a good pip.

I'd zip the shell and then put back under mom. Check again in a couple hours and if there is no more progress, then I'd break through the membrane and help the chick come on out.

I'm convinced that I would not have 10 healthy chicks from my incubator batch if I had not helped them out yesterday. It was day 22 and they had pipped but not zipped. I think the membrane was too dry and tough for them to work around to zip. I helped them out and not a one was born with any unabsorbed yolk, etc, and all are happily running around in the brooder by my feet as I type here.

 

[Mareloo]

How and were is she going to make the zip if there is no pip? Inquiring minds would like to know..

Henrietta66.. Do remember if you going this route, if you do see any blood, stop immediately. A chick bleeds out veeery quickly.

 

[TerrasCritters]

I would snatch the egg take it to a dark room.
If you hear peeping there is a good chance its in the air cell.
There is only so much air in that cell that the chicks can breeth in and will need fresh air in about 24 hours, since your not sure how long its been peeping, take it in your dark room can candle you should see the beak moving about in the air cell. if so great, I use a screw some use eye glass screw drivers whatever, pip a hole in the shell in the air cell so fresh air can enter, I would then put the egg back under the hen.

But know this, keep a VERY close eye on the hen, as after chicks hatch and it comes time to leave the nest with the chicks, the hen will abandon any unhatched eggs to get cold and die.

So if she leaves you will have to take the egg and keep it warm, a heat lamp will work at this point.

If you want to try to avoid her leaving the egg, take the chicks, she will probably stay on the egg for a bit until it hatches, if by this evening no progress you can try to chip away at the shell a bit more, if you get any blood stop.
A new trick i recently learned but not tried yet, if you dampen the membrain you are suposed to see where the vein network is, eventually the vein network will disappear as the yoke absorbs, if they all were set at the same time and all but this one is hatched, there is a good chance its ready but a slow poke.

Keep us updated.

Oh and to answer the question about zipping, the zipping is done along the line of the air cell, so that would be where you would zip it.

I personally just chip away shell starting at the big end and working around the face of the chicks.

Good luck

 

[User48]

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I did candle, and could see that the chick was moving around & taking up the entire egg. Unfortunately, as I discovered as I was chipping off the shell, it was facing downward toward the skinny end of the egg. I picked away enough of the egg for its beak to come through. I'ts kind of weird, because the area around its face is basically free of membrane, but there is still membrane around the bottom of the chick. I left that alone. I couldn't just zip the top, though, and put the chick back with mom because it became obvious that it's beak was at the bottom, so I had to keep opening the shell. The peep is still cheeping, but its eyes are closed & it is weak. I put it in the incubator, rather than with mom, because it seems too frail to be back out of sight. I"m not sure how it got so turned around, because it was with mom all this time & presumably she was turning it the right amount of time.

Anyway, have my fingers crossed, but am not hugely optimistic. I'll let you know how things turn out. Thank you again for all the advice.

Laura

Laura

 

[jessupfamily]

If the baby makes it, you can still put it back with mama. I had some eggs under a mama and they were 2 and 3 days apart (she stole some eggs from another mama and I couldn't figure out which ones they were). She started leaving the nest at the end of day 2 with the first 4 babies, so I took the other eggs into the incubator. As they hatched I would put them under her at the beginning of the night. If they hatched in the evening or night I would wait until the next evening. They would be strong enough to go with her in the morning. The mamas don't usually go too far from the nest the first few days. I did this with 4 of the 8 chicks and everything worked out great!
Amy J.