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hatching taking forever!
Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 5:46 pm
by Juddy in the Charente
Hi just a quick one and no mistake! First ever hatching in the incubator, chick has been at it all day and got nowhere, just a very small hole, he/she must be getting proper knackered! Is it feasible to do an assist and crack a bit of the shell?
Re: hatching taking forever!
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:36 pm
by Thomzo
No, don't interfere. The chick (assuming it's a chicken) will make a small hole to let air in. It will then rest and get used to breathing for quite a while. Once it's got its strength back, then it will have another go.
If you start to break the shell you can break the delicate blood vessels that link the chick to the rest of the egg. If you do this prematurely then it can kill the chick.
It does take an amazingly long time. I've had chicks take two or even nearly three days to hatch.
They do respond to noise though. Look in regularly and make lots of clucking noises. You should hear the chick cheeping back at you (it may take a while for it to reply). This will encourage it to keep going.
Just be patient.
Zoe
Re: hatching taking forever!
Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 12:32 pm
by red
we had one that took two days to come out.. from first crack to out. and its fine. you can do more damage by helping ...
Re: hatching taking forever!
Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 7:54 am
by theabsinthefairy
We have had mixed results from our incubator hatching - a very cute and fluffy yellow chick within 12 hours, who needed a bit of encouragement to eat.
Then another black chick that beavered away at its egg for over 18 hours, and then tipped itself out of the remaining shell, but appears to have still been attached by umbilical to the shell and tore its insides out. Felt really wretched, poor little thing.
No signs from the other eggs yet so fingers crossed.
We now have a broody hen too and she is currently on 12 eggs - and the other chicken keep laying on top of her so we have to go and remove her 'new' clutch every evening. Yesterday she was trying to cover 20!
Re: hatching taking forever!
Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:04 am
by coopking
It could take anywhere from a few hours to around 3 days. Best is to let nature take its course and not to assist in anyway. When you assist the chick by pricking the shell, it could damage some vessels and may do more harm to it. Otherwise watching the chick hatch is a wonderful experience. Enjoy!
