[aaronsundin]

I have 6 orpington bantam eggs in my auto incubator. Hatch day ( day 21 ) is tomorrow, however this afternoon approx 1pm one of the chicks has peeped. There is a small beak size hole in the egg and I have seen movement and clearly heard the youngster cheeping. Now a good 6 or so hours later all has gone quiet and the hole in the egg is no bigger . Should I be concerned ? Should I do anything ? Bearing in mind we are a day early. The other  5 eggs are still intact . I candled all at 9 days and they looked to be fertile .  Many thanks in advance for any advise , I've kept chickens for a few years now but am new to incubating hatching eggs.

[doganjo]

I'd leave it for the moment, but make sure the humidity is right.  I've lost chicks that have poked their beaks out because the shells were just too hard for them to break any further.

[benkt]

In my experience its quite usual for them to 'pip' (break a little hole in the egg) one or even two days before they finally hatch. They do go quiet for periods, but so long as there is some cheeping going on they'll usually get out in the end. Aside form congenital problems that might stop them hatching normally, the next thing that will harm their chances is low humidity. Did you add water a few days before the hatch date (if your incubator needs it - mine does)? Opening up and looking will only cause humidity to drop which will make it worse for them, so best thing to do is sit tight, be patient and wait.
When I first started, I would help chicks out of their shells slowly if they've been struggling for more than a couple of days - it never worked so I stopped.

[Dizzycow]

I've made the mistake, many times, of panicking and helping them out of their shells because I've convinced myself that they've dried up inside and need my help. Inevitably I'm wrong, and the chick has pipped the shell but is still very much attached to the yolk etc, and the result is a very weak chick which needs a lot of help. I need to keep my itchy fingers to myself and accept that they either come out of their shells nice and strong, or die within. I think that they can spend a lot longer inside their shells after pipping than we think, and then emerge nice and healthy. What's the update? Good luck!

[DJ_Chook]

Try not to help them out their shells. I must confess that I have in the past 'helped' them out, if I thought they were taking too long. I helped a few in my last hatch...and two of them I've had to dispatch as they definitely weren't right. By natural selection they would not have hatched.

[violet]

I've had similar experiences too. Do as the others have adviced.
I've found though that if you tap gently on the side of the incubator/hatcher & mimic a hen chucking they often reply - stops me worrying  
If you've seen hens brood, they chuck away practically non-stop during the hatching days as this helps encourage the chicks.

Good luck  

[doganjo]

I've had similar experiences too. Do as the others have adviced.
I've found though that if you tap gently on the side of the incubator/hatcher & mimic a hen chucking they often reply - stops me worrying  
If you've seen hens brood, they chuck away practically non-stop during the hatching days as this helps encourage the chicks.

Good luck  

\Ah, I forgot I'd done that too - should have said.  It's very reassuring when they cheep back at you.  Practice making hen noises.

[aaronsundin]

Firstly , so many thanks for all the replies and interest, update as of 07.00 this morning - the chick has managed to break away more of the shell and I can pretty much see his face . He is cheeping away periodically and I'm getting quite good at doing chick noises myself .  I did increase the humidity according to the incubator instructions a couple of days ago , I'm really hoping that some of the other eggs will start to hatch today .  Will keep you all informed , thanks again,
stefan

[Miss Piggy]

I see I'm a bit late in replying but just wanted to say good luck. All the advice you have been given is what I would have said. I remember our first eggs pipping, years ago know when the children were about 8 and 10. I let them stop up thinking things were going to happen immanently. Now I'm older and wiser and realise it can take up to 24 hrs from pipping to hatch. They were very very tired children but we were all so excited. Here's to Happy hatching's.

[aaronsundin]

Hi everyone , well finally our young chick has arrived into the world , but not without help. He was making very little progress on his own so we removed the egg from the incubator and my partner gently started to remove part of the shell , after a couple of minutes the chick sprang out like a jack in the box ! Unrolling himself and cheeping away . We put him straight back into the incubator to dry out. Sadly the remaining 5 eggs in the incubator have not hatched , I candled again to be sure and most looked hardly and different from day 9 candling. I have a feeling the humidity was at fault , although I fololwed the incubator  instructions.The egg we helped to hatch seemed very dry and quite hard. The good news is we also had a broody hen sitting on eggs set at the same time as the incubator ones - two of which hatched yesterday . Once the lone chick had dried out we put him under the broody with the others at bed time . This morning all three are fluffy and cheeping away merrily . They are in run with mum in one of the outbuildings , we shall move them back outside once they've grown a bit .  I'm glad we had the foster mum as one little chick on his own in a brooder would have been real sad. Thanks again everyone for all the tips and advise.

[doganjo]

well done - you've done well on your first attempt.  Now to decide what to do with the cockerels!

[Dizzycow]

Liking the foster situation! Lucky, that. 

[Miss Piggy]

Brilliant news, so glad you got one hatch and so lucky to have the foster mum.