What To Do At Day 22? Suggestions, Please...

[bluey]

My broody hen is now sitting at Day 22 on our last egg (She started with 4). We have three peeps, so far hatched at Day 18, 19 and 20...

I guess the questions are: How long before I take the last egg away? and When I do take the last egg away, should we open it (will a dead egg be noxious?, it doesn't smell from the outside) or just dispose of it.

I wish I can say I successfully candled it but I stink at candling eggs or our lighting sources are just too poor.

What's the longest anybody had an egg take to hatch? This one was the largest of the four. My broody seems to be content with sitting on it and I have been feeding and watering her, so she won't starve.

Any comments are appreciated...

 

[Mahonri]

Give it another two days. Then you'll know.

 

[swtangel321]

I'd wait another day or 2, then yes I would open the egg carfully, I always do b/c im afraid for some strange reason I might throw away a baby chick, there have been lots of storys on here about that !! keep us updated !!!

 

[swtmarine]

What's the best way to open an egg without harming a possibly live baby chick inside?

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Gently make a small hole in the large end where the aircell is. Then you can begin peeling away the shell and membrane...gently and slowly...until you see the chick. If there is a chick there, touch it gently to see if you can elicit a response. If it's alive, it will move.

 

[swtmarine]

What's the best thing to use to poke a whole?

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I use the tip of a very sharp knife and rotate it around and around...like I'm drilling a hole. You don't need to apply much pressure...you could slip and kill the chick that way.

 

[swtmarine]

Thanks, I opened them up and they were all half developed chicks or just yolk.

 

[1WildHairL8tr]

Oh man!
That stinks.
So sorry.

 

[swtmarine]

Yeah it stank, some of them literally!! The eggs took a week to get to me and then were left on the porch so, I think that's what did most of them in before they made it to the incubator. I'm not sure what went wrong with the rest.