timing question

[ajneal30]

How long after an egg pips internally should it hatch? I have one that was moving around and had piped internally last night but still hasn't hatched.

This seems to be a reoccuring problem for me, my eggs progress very well until the last day or two and then die, not sure what I am doing wrong.

 

[sumi]

Generally speaking a chick should progress to external pip within 24 hours, but I have heard of chicks taking longer and I have seen chicks progress and hatch much sooner. If you are concerned about your chick and suspects it may be unable to pip externally, candle the egg and check for movement and mark the air cell line with a pencil while you are at it. Then take a sharp object and carefully score an X either close to where you saw the chick's beak or right at the end of the egg, just make sure it is above the air cell line, in the clear space and well clear of the inner membrane. Keep scoring it over and over until you can get through the shell then carefully make a small hole with a pair of tweezers. It really only needs to be pea sized. This little vent hole will get some fresh air in there for the chick, which is all it needs now. That and time. After creating this "breathing hole" the chick will need to rest again and finish absorbing the yolk sac and blood in the inner membrane, so resist the temptation to help further and replace the egg in the incubator, get the humidity up to 65-70% and leave it there. It will hopefully progress on it's own.

There are a few reasons chicks progress this far and then die. Most of the time it is due to incorrect humidity settings during incubation (too high), incubation temperature too low, or too high at lockdown, inadequate ventilation during the final stages of incubation when the chicks need extra oxygen, rough handling of the egg during incubation (for example when turning), eggs stored too long pre-incubation, inadequate turning of the eggs during incubation, it may be hereditary or due to a breeder disease even. It is frustrating when this happens, so I hope you can pinpoint the cause and save your chick(s).

 

[ajneal30]

Humidity is always a problem for me. I am in the desert and its dry dry dry here. Keeping the reservoir full never seems to be enough, but wetting a sponge spikes it wsy too high for a short period of time. I think that's what is happening to my eggs. I am afraid they are shrink wrapping.

 

[sumi]

Have you tried putting more water containers in the incubator? That should help, since increasing the surface of the water should increase the humidity as well. What I also found helps if I need to maintain a high or certain humidity, for example during lockdown, is spreading a thin, damp cloth over the bottom of the incubator, under the eggs, but not touching them, or anywhere in the incubator where you have space. Then feed water in through a vent hole via a drinking straw to keep the cloth damp.

 

[ajneal30]

I will have to try that next time. I did what you suggested. One chick is very much alive and chirping. The other two had shrink wrapped and are both dead. At least I know now what is happening.

 

[sumi]

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully the little survivor will hatch out o.k. for you. Did you only set 3 eggs?

 

[ajneal30]

My broody had seven when my housesitter put her back with the flock on accident. Three of her eggs were clear and four went into the bator. One never developed any further, so that left me with the three.

 

[ajneal30]

She's pipped at the wrong end of the egg. I helped chip away a little bit of the shell without tearing the membrane. She has just enough of it torn that her beak almost comes through it when she cheeps. There is no blood at all on the membrane, so I figure I will chip a little more every couple of hours until she can kick free on her own.

 

[sumi]

Yes, do that and wet the membrane with a Q-tip every now and then to keep it soft and damp. You can clear a little bit of the membrane over her nostrils to make breathing easier for her, but check the membrane for blood vessels first and if possible, try to just push it to the side, instead of tearing it. You should be able to judge by the inner membrane how near ready she is to hatch. There should be no more active blood vessels before she can come out.

 

[ajneal30]

I unzipped the egg most of the way around leaving the membrane intact. She's just balled up in there and can't seem to move much. No veins at all on the membrane. I am keeping it moist and encouraging her with whistles.