Question that needs an answer from a successful experienced Hatcher

[Pick-a-LilyFarm]

This morning my eggs were moving slightly in the bator and I could hear peeps. Then around 2:30pm I noticed a pip. I went out for dinner to come back to two more pips and plenty of peeping. My question is, what is considered the "normal" time from " pip to zip"? I ask, because I have read a lot about people waiting 12 - 24 hours and then it being to late. I want to be able to intervene if I do not see any progress. Right now there are only little pushed out cracks, and no zipping going on. So I really, want to know what is a "NORMAL" time from "PIP to ZIP". Thanks a bunch in advance!!!!

 

[Paganbird]

I don't think there is a "normal" time.
It's normal for chicks to hatch in their own time.
I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but that's how it is.
I've had chicks pip... then hatch 2 hours later. I've also had chicks pip... then nothing for 36 hours... then hatch.
That's all normal.
Good luck!

 

[becky3086]

Yup, sometimes it seems to take forever but if you intervene too soon, you can end up with chicks that haven't absorbed the yolk sacks, so just leave them and wait for now.

 

[Akane]

I wait a minimum of 24hrs after there is no progress on any egg and after day 21. So if there are 3 eggs pipped for 12hrs and another pips I wait another 24hrs. Or if several stay pipped for nearly 24hrs and one hatches then I wait another 24hrs. If it's not day 21 yet I'll leave them pipped for days. Some jump the gun and pip way before they are ready. There are other factors I've learned to take into account but that's the basic rule I follow. Yes sometimes you'll lose some you could have helped but 9 times out of 10 you end up killing one that could have hatched on it's own. The first time you help a chick odds are you'll kill it so make sure it definitely needs help first. Even after you have some experience the odds are still more likely it will die from your attempt to help. You'll feel a lot worse after you kill a chick that might have survived than if you lose one that you left. If your humidity and temp have been correct they should hatch without intervention unless something is wrong with them.

 

[Grillo]

I just wanted to say that I agree with all of the above and relay a little story. In one of my first batches (I think the 3rd) I saw a pip, the very first of a batch of 20 eggs. Then I saw nothing going on with the egg for 12 hours, well 17 chicks were already running around the bator and this the first one to pip showed no signs, so I assumed it had drowned and took it out and started to peel off the shell only to realize the chick was alive, I thought once I cracked the egg open the chick would start kicking the other half of the shell and come out, to my surprise the chick just stayed in the same position as if she was still completely inside the egg. I was baffled so I returned it to the bator feeling horrible I was certain the chick would die. The chick remained curled up there the rest of the afternoon only opening and closing its bill every now and then. The next morning I woke up to him and another of his brothers all dry and walking around inside the bator. He hatched on day 22 (I usually have 1 or 2 out of 50 hatch on the 22nd) because I guess that was HIS time. I learned that day not to mess with chicks hatching. If you are certain your incubation was right then all chicks that are supposed to hatch, will. Good luck.


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[Pick-a-LilyFarm]

By the way, within 12 hours the first chick appeared, and the other followed and finished today at 2:30pm. About a full 24 hours from the first pip!! I got 9 out of 10 and still waiting on the 10th one because it was warm in my hand when I took it out to candle. Usually when you hold them for a little while, they cool down quickly if there dead, but this one didn't. Couldn't be sure if it was a live when I candled it, so I'm waiting....