Day 20 in the incubator - pipped but no hatching yet

[DaisySteiner]

Noticed the eggs had pipped this morning at about 11am but very little has happened since - I can hear cheeping but I'm worried they're stuck Humidity is registering 60-70% (depending on which hygrometer you look at)

Should I leave them alone or intervene? If so, how?!! Aargh, I'm supposed to be a doula and all calm and relaxed around births but I'm a blardy nervous wreck

Give them at least 24 hours but as long as 48 hours before you intervene. Humidity level is good so the shells shouldn't be too hard. Some chicks take 2 days to hatch, others are pipped and out in an hour! If their beaks are out they'll be fine - chicks don't need to eat or drink for a couple of days as they're absorbing the yolk (like colostrum)!

If you intervene, pick away at the shell very carefully as chicks often have feathers/skin dried onto the egg membranes and you'll skin them if you pull the shell off to fast.

Good luck!

Thanks! Panic over now as 6 chicks have completely hatched and I suspect the remaining egg probably won't do anything now. I'm leaving them in the incubator to dry off while I have another panic about what to use as a brooder/heat lamp etc!

They're all stumbling around bumping into each other and ds2 thinks they're playing football with the remaining egg

awww
i want chicks!

One looks like Norman Lamont, lol. It has two downy bits of black fluff which look just like eyebrows!

How many chicks did you get and what type are they?

Mine are 4 weeks old now and huge!

We originally had 6 Araucana eggs and 6 Goldline/Maran crosses to put in, but dh ate 4 of the Araucana eggs before I'd put them in So in the end we put 2 Araucanas in and 6 of the others. One of the Araucanas went really stinky and horrible and of the remaining seven 6 have hatched out.

I think the black bits on some of them must be the Maran influence!

We raised ducklings from 1 day olds a while ago and I just can't get over how quickly baby birds grow

I'd really like to immediately start off another lot (it's kind of addictive!) but if I do we'll be away when they hatch out which would be a shame!