Okay I got some silkie eggs, out of the first batch of eggs only 2 developed and they were BOTH marked as show girls, only one has made it the last week and is pipped and in the hatcher with the humidity up, then I also have some cochins due at same time, of the 11 cochin eggs 6 began to develop but now I am down to 3 who are still alive, one is pipped and in hatcher with the showgirl. The other two I see moving beak in air cell and are peeping at me but no pip. This same thing happened with the last eggs from this person who kindly sent me more at a later time. (this one ended up making it peeped but never pipped and died.) So WHEN after I hear it peeping and it has not pipped should I pip for it to beable to breath?! They were peeping this AM and still peeping. I worry they will die if there is not a pip. Please help ASAP!
I say leave them be as generally you will do more harm than good. Wait at least 24 hours past pipping after day 21 to help, longer if your temps were low. Now if this has been a consistant problem with your eggs, check your settings. If it is only a problem with this breeding set of eggs, there's not much you can do. Troubble shooting time. And just in case: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9316
Thats not the part I am having issues with I am pretty good at helping them out after they pip if i need to. I just am not sure when to poke a hole so they dont run out of air. because they have not or can not pip on there own. This is ordered batch of cochin eggs. Thanks though!
I personally don't intervene if they do not pip. I do however open all eggs that do not hatch to figure out what happened. Sometime their head is in the wrong place or in one case... had a neural tube defect and had their brain on the outside of their skull. The diffusion of oxygen should be just fine though the shell as they are pretty porous. Here is what I found from: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/trouble.htm#PIP Pipped eggs, but died without hatching Insufficient moisture Increase humidity (wet-bulb temperature) during the hatching period. Improper ventilation Increase ventilation rate in incubator and/or room, but avoid drafts. Improper setting of eggs causing malpositioned embryos Set eggs with small end down. Turn eggs properly but avoid turning within 3 days of hatching. Good luck and I hope they make it. Ordered eggs make things tough.
What I learned from my hatches that went wrong: Dont open the bator! If you can see they pipped that means you are opening the bator to peek. Dont get me wrong, I totally get the temptation. I thought everyone was being extra sensitive by saying that, but I lost three batches that made it to the end, finally I started leaving the bator be and I hatched 12 out of 14 Blue Orps. Could have been luck, but ever since I stopped messing with the bator and letting out all the humidity --all is well. Personally, I would mist in the bator to make up for the loss in humidity from opening it and candling them. GOod luck on your hatch!
Alright look, I run 2 incubators I run many eggs at a time with different hatch dates so I cant JUST increase the humidty when a chick pips. I run a sportsman which is my incubator that I incubate the eggs in, whent hey are due I place them in the bottom hatcher of my sportsman, when they pip I move them to my LG where my humidity is UP. The chicks NEED the humidity when hatching so they do not dry out and GLUE to the inside of the shell. So anyway, lastnight I candled the egg again before I went to bed. Chick tottally moved positions. I actually saw it roll around in the egg. So I went ahead and pipped a hole using a small screw in the air cell. So that the chick could breath. I am sorry for whoever disagress but there is a time line on the air in that air cell on how long it will last once the chick makes it to the air cell fully. And if it does not pip because its weak or the shell is to tough it will sufforcate!! This is what I was trying to find out. If I had not noticed it moving around so much in the egg I would of not pipped it. I placed the egg in my LG with the humidity up so it wouldnt dry out. This AM I ran out to take a peek. My 1 showgirl hatched, (a friends), and 2 of my cochins hatched!! The one egg had no progress. I picked up the egg and tapped with my finger nail and peeped at it to hear life, but nothing. I noticed my pip was darker in color then what it looked like lastnight, and thought to myself the little bugger shifted again! I started to peel the shell away, sure enough the chicks back was up against the pip and it sufforcated its self, chick was fully developed yoke absorbed and I should of just helped it out lastnight! Hopefully no one else will have to experience this. Thanks for all the help, tips, ideas, and support.
