This little chick began hatching yesterday--Monday morning about 5 am. It began strong, but slow, as it pipped away at the shell. But as the day wore on, the pipping stopped as well as the loud peeps. At 11 pm all activity stopped. We checked on the egg through the night and feared it may have die. The shell that had been broken by the chick had not changed in size for more than 12 hours. There was no movement or peeping.
Finally at 6 am Tuesday morning June 1, 2010 we decided to take the egg out of the incubator and see if it had any life. It peeped a few soft peeps. The chick seemed "stuck" in the shell--not very much moisture and the membrane had dried. We decided to gently help it get out of it's shell.
Once it was out, we gently put it back in the incubator. It laid for a while then slowly began to move around. After an hour or so it was loud and active. YAY!
So, Happy Birthday Australorp Egg #3!
Please note: we don't recommend helping chicks hatch except as a last ditch effort to save the chick. The chick had gone way beyond the expected hatch time and movements had stopped for a long time. We didn't want this little one to die.
Update on the other eggs:
Pips on the following eggs have begun: White eggs: #2, #7, #8 and Brown #10. There may be others, but the little chick has moved all the eggs around as it's drying off in the incubator.
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Very cool! In a few more years, 4H will be in our world. Right now, we're just enjoying everyone else's projects!
ReplyDeleteKatie Miller