Argh! My hatching is not going according to plan. Yesterday was day 0, and I found 2 pipped eggs in the morning, and then a third pipped egg yesterday evening. This morning, one chick was running around in the incubator, the other two had made no progress. When I returned from work today - 36 hours after the first pips, one was dead, and the other one seems malpositioned. The hole is a decent size, but it is just hacking at air in the middle of the hole. Since it was 36 hours after pipping, and one had already died, I decided to try to help. I was a bit rough, so it started bleeding a bit. Let it rest for 3 hours - the chick seems active, but zero progress. It has pipped towards the pointy end, so it looks like a malposition. Sooooo.... to my question: Do I need to help it (I think yes), and how should I do it? Should I open the end where the air sac? Or should I zip away where the chicken has started?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching This will answer your questions much better than I can, good luck!
