okay so as you all know this is my first time breeding, I have got a hen with 2 chicks (hatched yesterday) and 4 eggs, one of those eggs is cheeping and I can hear tapping. I have been able to hear this for a few hours now so obviously it is starting the hatching process, my question is how long do they do this before hatching and when should you intervene if nothing is happening?

You are lucky to have heard this but do not intervene. All is normal so far. Dont handle the egg or turn it over.

You are lucky to have heard this but do not intervene. All is normal so far. Dont handle the egg or turn it over.

 

Thanks Kaz, how long can this process take? I didn't expect her to hatch another until tomorrow, could it possibly take until tomorrow for it to hatch?

When I have heard peeping from an egg it is uaually the day before hatching.

When I have heard peeping from an egg it is uaually the day before hatching.

 

okay so I will just keep an eye out for a new hatched chick in the morning

I agree with Kaz. The peeping means they have penetrated the aircell but still have 12-24 hours of hatching to do. Only intervene if it hasn't hatched before nightfall tomorrow.

Edited October 7, 200915 yr by **Liv**

I agree with Kaz. The peeping means they have penetrated the aircell but still have 12-24 hours of hatching to do. Only intervene if it hasn't hatched before nightfall tomorrow.

 

totally agree i am a inpatient introvener and i have killed chicks as they cheeping and all day long and i see dark spot freak out and help chick only for it to have belly button food left one day would have hatched beautifully

i band myself from bird room now till day after hatching

im getting better only killed one this season i killed **** loads last year bad bad bad slap myself heaps

never help unless you hear chipping subside considrably and egg blackened which is poo

I only intervene when it actual hatching appears to have stalled. ie. There has been some attempt to break the eggshell but no progress over a few hours. I don't get them all right and sometimes leave it too late as you don't know how long they have been struggling. But as GB pointed out it's very easy to get impatient and help one out only to find the yolk sac still attached at which point the chick has no hope.

 

I hatched one this morning (no, it wasn't me sitting in a nest of straw keeping the egg warm) which had a very noisy chick and had an intermittently perforated shell. It was obvious in this case that the chick was turning but not cutting and had I left it I believe it would have eventually died. I removed it and it came out with no yolk sac and looking perfectly normal so I reckon it has a good chance of being alive when I get home tonight. On the downside, I also hatched another on the weekend which was also ready to leave the egg, but upon hatching this one appeared to have something wrong with it's neck (hence the difficulty hatching). I didn't give it much hope and upon checking the next day found it hadn't survived (even though it was with a reliable hen).

 

As a general rule you're probably better off just letting nature take it's course unless you're absolutely certain the chick won't break out on it's own. It's not a very nice feeling hatching out underdone chicks and having them die.

 

In my neck of the woods I find that August/September is the main time for chicks becoming stuck. This coincides with the driest months of the year in my area according to the BOM website. It will probably differ around the country.

As a general rule you're probably better off just letting nature take it's course unless you're absolutely certain the chick won't break out on it's own. It's not a very nice feeling hatching out underdone chicks and having them die.

 

you can say that again a few breaths and then nothing :rofl:

im even marking my eggs as due a whole day after intill i can control myself

so far this system is working and i have killed none and saved all i have helped

i think your right about sept eggs having trouble this year mine did i thought their diet may of had to much calcium

Edited October 7, 200915 yr by KAZ
fixed broken quote tags

It hasn't got any cracks in the shell and there are no black spots so I am guessing it has only just started the hatching process so I will just check it again in the morning, thanks for all the advice.

Agree with GB and daryl, I have banned myself from intervening with hatching. Just let nature take its course.

okay so I didn't touch the egg I just shone a light in the nest box and I can now see a small crack in the egg, so by morning I may well already have another chick

okay so I didn't touch the egg I just shone a light in the nest box and I can now see a small crack in the egg, so by morning I may well already have another chick

Good news. By tonights feeding or later, if you put your ear to the nestbox I am sure you will hear tiny baby squeaks.

okay so I didn't touch the egg I just shone a light in the nest box and I can now see a small crack in the egg, so by morning I may well already have another chick

Hi Tonilee, When I heard mine cheep a week or so back, I heard it at 7 a.m. at lunchtime nothing, I left it another couple hours and listened, sorry Kaz, but I lifted mine and heard faint pecking left it and late afternoon it finally hatched safe and well. Resist temptation it took 18 days to get this far a few more hours won't hurt. :rofl: