Theblackpukeko
Songster
Hi, I'm a first time hatcher and just started incubating some chicken eggs. They are at two weeks now, all healthy and growing well, but with them we put one pukeko egg that we found, hoping it would hatch. It's a wild bird here in New Zealand.
Now, we didn't expect the pukeko to hatch before next week, but when I was candling, I did think it was pretty big already. I compared to different other birds and thought it would hatch next week. Now, today I found an external pip. I realized then that yesterday while candling I had seen an internal pip without knowing.
Because I didn't know it would hatch, the humidity was quite low though for the past days and not raised for hatching. Also, the egg was constantly in an auto-turning incubator. It decided to hatch anyway. It made a very small air hole but the membrane had dried up in that spot completely, so I just opened a very tiny breathing hole. It's chirping a lot now. Still, I'm super worried about the membrane drying up and it dying. I put it on a damp paper towel and did everything I know of to make it easier for the chick, but I am still worried.
When do I need to assist?
And does the chick have a chance of surviving even though I didn't make any preparations for the hatch during the last days?
Now, we didn't expect the pukeko to hatch before next week, but when I was candling, I did think it was pretty big already. I compared to different other birds and thought it would hatch next week. Now, today I found an external pip. I realized then that yesterday while candling I had seen an internal pip without knowing.
Because I didn't know it would hatch, the humidity was quite low though for the past days and not raised for hatching. Also, the egg was constantly in an auto-turning incubator. It decided to hatch anyway. It made a very small air hole but the membrane had dried up in that spot completely, so I just opened a very tiny breathing hole. It's chirping a lot now. Still, I'm super worried about the membrane drying up and it dying. I put it on a damp paper towel and did everything I know of to make it easier for the chick, but I am still worried.
When do I need to assist?
And does the chick have a chance of surviving even though I didn't make any preparations for the hatch during the last days?