Hey guys looking for some advise here. I am in the process of hatching my second batch of eggs in the incubator. The first batch I had a 50% hatch. I had 21 eggs in the incubator and got 12 very healthy chicks that are still doing very well. The others I waited a couple days and they never did anything so, I threw them away.
This time however, I have a full incubator of 41. 22 have hatched over the past several days and seem very healthy they started hatching on the 20th of the month it is now the 23rd of the month. I have several other of the 41 that have started "pipping" and they seem to have given up, but I can see the egg "breathing". Then when I pick them up they start to struggle again. As I said, I have 22 that have hatched on their own very well, all though number 20 had been struggling for about 12 hours and only lacked a little to get out, so I took pity on her (I assume her until proven otherwise) and picked away a little of the shell to weaken it a little, then she finished it off about 1/2 hour later and she seems fine.
My question is this and it is two-fold. I know generally you are not supposed to help them and let nature take it's course because you get stronger chicks that way, but when they are very obviously trying for hours without success at what point is it okay to do what I did with number 20?
And the second part, how long do I wait before considering the ones that have not hatched a lost cause and throw them away? This is twice now I am at a 50% success, which in my humble opinion is not too bad for an amateur; however I would like to improve my success rate.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks.
And, yes, both these batches of chicks are from eggs my own chickens that I raised from chicks themselves have laid.
This time however, I have a full incubator of 41. 22 have hatched over the past several days and seem very healthy they started hatching on the 20th of the month it is now the 23rd of the month. I have several other of the 41 that have started "pipping" and they seem to have given up, but I can see the egg "breathing". Then when I pick them up they start to struggle again. As I said, I have 22 that have hatched on their own very well, all though number 20 had been struggling for about 12 hours and only lacked a little to get out, so I took pity on her (I assume her until proven otherwise) and picked away a little of the shell to weaken it a little, then she finished it off about 1/2 hour later and she seems fine.
My question is this and it is two-fold. I know generally you are not supposed to help them and let nature take it's course because you get stronger chicks that way, but when they are very obviously trying for hours without success at what point is it okay to do what I did with number 20?
And the second part, how long do I wait before considering the ones that have not hatched a lost cause and throw them away? This is twice now I am at a 50% success, which in my humble opinion is not too bad for an amateur; however I would like to improve my success rate.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks.
And, yes, both these batches of chicks are from eggs my own chickens that I raised from chicks themselves have laid.
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