I have an egg thats due to hatch today, I candled it this morning and it wasn't internally piped yet it's obviously alive as I saw it move a couple times, how long does it usually take for them to pip internally?

I remember last time the chicks could be heard vocalizing the night before their due date.

it takes around 24 hours for the egg to hatch.

the chick didn't make it, he had about 1/3 of the shell chipped away, I think the hen might have tried to help him out, next is due tomorrow, hopefully I'll get a live healthy chick this time.

owww, fingers crossed for the next one!

sad about the little one but fingers and toes crossed the next one all goes well

Did any of them make it?!

You can assist to some extent.

 

This is what happens when a chick is trying to hatch......

 

Pipping

 

Approximately 24 to 72 hours before hatching, the air sac membrane drops and blood vessels in the shell membranes begin to recede. In this end stage of development, when the chick is ready to emerge from the egg, increased levels of carbon dioxide in its blood system cause the neck muscles to expand and contract bringing the egg tooth on the tip of its beak into contact with the air sac membrane. As the egg tooth punctures and tears the membrane, oxygen stored in the large end of the egg is released. Gradually, the neonate begins to switch from obtaining oxygen through the chorio allantoic membrane to circulating air through its lungs. As the newly released source of oxygen from the air sac is depleted, carbon dioxide levels in the chick’s blood rise. Somewhere between twelve and twenty four hours after piercing the air sac membrane, the neck muscles again begin to work forcing the egg tooth into the shell itself. Once chipped, air enters rapidly oxygenating and strengthening the chick. After resting, the chick in a combination of repetitive jerking motions of the head, and rotation of its body, cuts and pips a circular path around the central circumference of the egg until the shell is weak enough that it can be pushed apart.

 

If the chick were to die in this process, as a result of being too weak to complete the task, excessive fluid in the egg, failure to puncture the air sac or because of the drying of internal membranes, which prevent it from exiting the shell, it is referred to as "dead in shell". Up to 8% of embryo death is attributable to dead in shell conditions.

 

Assisting Chicks In Hatching

 

It is possible to assist a chick out of the egg but the timing of this is important. It is not until the 18th day that the final traces of yolk are absorbed into the chicks abdomen and the umbilicus is sealed shut. Assisting the chick before that time will cause its death. Often, you can candle the egg to see if the yolk sac has fully retracted and that membranes below the shell no longer contain viable blood vessels.

 

The actual time from which the first expansion of the neck muscle broke through the shell until the chick emerges from the egg can vary from 48 to 72 hours. Initially, you may hear a quiet tapping or even weak squeaks, and find a fine crack, group of cracks or crack plus a tiny hole in the shell. This is the beginning stages of the hatching process and no action is required. If you can hear loud squeaks, see creamy off white patches on the shell with a crack line around its circumference, and detect moist membranes you are observing the latter stages of a normal hatching and it is not necessary to assist the chick.

 

If you can hear loud squeaks and find a widened crack line around the circumference of the egg or a large hole in the egg, and can observe a dried or drying membrane, then you can assist the chick, as it is having difficulties. To do this, take a haemostat or tweezers and gently work your way around the crack line with the air sac end in an upright position. You will be able to see the position and movement of the chick as you do this. Once having separated the egg, most chicks will be pushing and forcing the shell apart. If this is the case, gently return it to the nest box and the chick and hen will do the rest.

 

If on the other hand, the dried membrane has adhered itself to the chick or shell, moisten a cotton swab in sterile saline solution and place it on the membrane. This will loosen it enough so that you can remove the chick safely from the shell. If there is slight bleeding at the navel, swab the umbilicus area with a 1% solution of Betadine and place the chick in the nest box. If the egg sac has not completely retracted, you should leave the chick in the bottom part of the shell and place it in an upright position. This sometimes works as it allows extra time for the yolk to retract.

 

 

Hope this helps

 

from the Master Breeder

thanks Daz, I was more or less looking for info on how long from the time they internally pip, or pip the membrane that they start to externally pip, unfortunatly #2 hasn't shown any signs of internal pipping, I wonder if maybe my hen didn't keep things humid enough, I have helped ducklings out of their eggs before but that was a much large egg and have seen what drying of the membrane can do.

well #2 has pipped the membrane he's still probably going to be a day late though, hopefully other than that he'll be fine, I think I heard him vocalizing too which would be a good sign.