Prolonged zipping - advice needed

[bcchick22]

I have nine eggs in the incubator, all looked good at lockdown. Two pipped yesterday. One began zipping at around 1am and got at least halfway through and started pushing but was unable to push out. It's now 15 hours later and there's been no change and the chick seems quite weak. To me there still seems to be some moisture, so not sure what the issue is. The other one started zipping about six hours ago, and has about an inch long hole.

No pipping from any of the others yet. It's day 21, for reference.

The incubator is a borrowed basic styrofoam still air.

Does this seem abnormally long for the zipping phase? Any advice?

Pic of mostly zipped chick:

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Your half zip chick probably needs help. Have your read the guidelines for assisted hatching?

What's your humidity?

 

[Sixandahalfacres]

Did it pip on the wrong side of the egg? It looks like the other one did too? Sometimes they don’t break into the air sac if they pip outside it and then have less room to turn and finish zipping. It’s still possible to hatch that way, but takes a bit more effort. Most people would probably say leave it, but if your humidity is high I would be tempted to snatch it out and assess it. It may need some assistance, but read the article on assisted hatching on here (just search for it and it will pop up), if you haven’t assisted before because it’s easy to kill the chick when you think you are helping. It may just need more time... as long as it can breathe, it’s still early so it might be a good idea to just leave it and monitor it - it may just be resting to gather energy for that final breakout.

 

[bcchick22]

Thanks, both. I wondered about their pipping spot, both pipped on the side.

I don't have a humidity guage, wish in retrospect I had gotten one. As per the instructions I filled both trays with water Tuesday night for lockdown. I was able to refill one of the trays today with a straw without opening the lid. More condensation has formed on the viewing windows now, but definitely my chief concern is low humidity so I'm terrified to open the lid to try and assist and keep reading articles that say to give it time...just seems like so long to be mostly zipped like that and the other seems stalled too. Both breathing with their beaks exposed though.

 

[Sixandahalfacres]

As long as you can see them breathing I would leave them - I’ve had chicks take 2 full days to hatch and I’ve heard of others having chicks take longer. It’s absorbing its yolk so isn’t hungry or thirsty, the only thing that would kill it at this point was if it suddenly couldn’t breathe.
I would love to hear how it goes in the end, keep us updated, and hope the rest of the hatch goes good!

ps. My hatches got dramatically more successful with multiple hygrometers and I was able to finely tune my humidity. I find my favourite one is a analog reptile one from a pet store - it’s the most accurate and reliable!

 

[Sixandahalfacres]

Pps. Waiting for hatching is torture... just trust that nature is taking it’s course - hopefully the course that will hatch a beautiful healthy chick!

 

[bcchick22]

Pps. Waiting for hatching is torture... just trust that nature is taking it’s course - hopefully the course that will hatch a beautiful healthy chick!

Thank you, it really is torture. With two stalled eggs and none others pipping I'm feeling particularly anxious - would be so hard to not have any chicks out of this attempt, especially as we're doing it with our kids and it's sort of a one time thing (doing it on behalf of the local high school as the building is closed). Now I'm nervous that they were incubating too low of a temperature the whole time or other mistakes...ugh.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

It sounds like you've made your decision. Just watch the little guy closely. You mentioned it was becoming exhausted and that concerns me. I'll leave it at that and check back with you tomorrow. Hopefully by then they've both made it out on their own

 

[bcchick22]

Ok still no change after 24 hours mostly unzipped and the membrane was getting visibly dry. I followed the instructions here and got them both out quickly, carefully removed about 80% of the remaining zip, leaving membrane intact, wetted membrane with a q tip and put them back in the incubator on a warm wet cloth and put another wet cloth in for good measure and more water in troughs. Need to sleep now, so crossing fingers they may their way out overnight but will assess again in the morning. No external pips yet on remaining eggs. Lots of condensation on the windows so hopefully that means the humidity is returning and will help their membranes stay pliable. Will update in the morning...

Oh and they're both VIGOROUSLY peeping and were yelling at me the whole time I was doing it, so taking that as a good sign!

 

[MLG1900]

Ok still no change after 24 hours mostly unzipped and the membrane was getting visibly dry. I followed the instructions here and got them both out quickly, carefully removed about 80% of the remaining zip, leaving membrane intact, wetted membrane with a q tip and put them back in the incubator on a warm wet cloth and put another wet cloth in for good measure and more water in troughs. Need to sleep now, so crossing fingers they may their way out overnight but will assess again in the morning. No external pips yet on remaining eggs. Lots of condensation on the windows so hopefully that means the humidity is returning and will help their membranes stay pliable. Will update in the morning...

Oh and they're both VIGOROUSLY peeping and were yelling at me the whole time I was doing it, so taking that as a good sign!

Awesome job!
I have done a couple quail hatches but chicks only once before. I am currently on day 19 on chicken eggs in the incubator. I think with the Covid lock downs the wait is worse because we have nothing else to do to keep us occupied! Normally, I am working and not home to watch the eggs so much!

I wanted to share the last time I hatched chick eggs, I only had 6 in the incubator, 1 hatched on its own, three more pipped and zipped but were not making alot of progress. I was torn between helping and not helping. I read the article about helping and decided to go for it. I helped 3 hatch. They were all very wet and sticky and after several hours in the incubator their feathers did not seem to be drying. When I touched them, they were hard and sticky. I read about rinsing them off with some warm water, at this time, I noticed that the 3 I helped hatch had yolk bellies. Made me think, they were too early! I cleaned as best I could and placed back in the incubator to dry and stay warm. The next day 1 chick died, but the other 3 were doing well and the yolk bellies were absorbing! I guess my point is, that sometimes we help too early but sometimes help is necessary. I don't know if my chicks would have died in their shells, I think from how sticky they were, possibly. But 2 years later and my 3 chickens are still alive.