Egg is chirping should I help?

[The Chicken People]

have no idea on what day this chick is due but it is chirping...should I help it out?

 

[redhen]

thats hard to say..since you dont know when they are due..
i'd say no, leave it be for now...its normal for them to chirp inside the egg around hatch time.. it means they have pipped the air sack, i believe..
it shouldnt be long now.. keep looking for a tiny crack on the egg...
but dont open the bator!

 

[The Chicken People]

redhen there are three eggs under my broody hen. I believe they are staggered should I take this one away when it hatches so my broody will stay on the other two? She just went broody a week or so ago.

 

[spotsplus]

If I hear clear, urgent peeping coming from an egg I watch closely to see if they are pipping. If no action in 12 hrs I open up the air sack end to see how things are doing. I have found some that are in 99% position to hatch but cannot due to oversized (stuffed) or malposition of something (like the head) or a leg preventing them breaking out of the shell. I usually will put a small crack in the shell and leave them to finish and they do and are fine. A few I found things looked well so just left them and they hatched within 6-8 hrs on thier own. If an egg didn't pip get beyond the initial pip and a day has gone by and they are peeping I would open it up then.

I'll admit I probably should leave them alone but I think I've saved more lives this way. Some that I helped had problems and died anyway but more were just fine.

T

 

[spotsplus]

Quote:
Try putting her and the eggs in a box or area where she can't leave. Put food and water accessible and let her out daily to do her buisness. Do you mean staggared as she layed them over a few days or are they from other hens too so they could be weeks apart?

T

 

[The Chicken People]

which end is the air sack end? boy I feel nervous, stupid and everything all at once...I need a nail biting smilie.

 

[chayton]

air sac on big end of egg

 

[The Chicken People]

spotsplus shes sitting on three eggs that a friends hen abandoned...she is in the coop with six other hens and currently in the nest box...which is up high! shpuld I make her a nest inside my dog keenel and bring her and the eggs inside?

 

[chayton]

I had the same situation on my first hatch and left it alone overnight and the next morning the chick hatched. I did however have a couple that pipped and after 24 hours made little progress so I helped by cracking the shell. I then covered the egg with a wet paper towel to keep it from drying out and smothering the chick. they all made it out ok within 24 hours. I think the wet paper towel really helped. I am no way an expert but that was my experiences on my first hatch. 21 out of 24 eggs hatched and they are all running aroun in the yard as I write this memo. 3 weeks old. I have 12 more due to hatch on the 24th

 

[The Chicken People]

I am so confused on what to do ..I think I will wait till hubby gets home...just a couple more hours...the friend that brought the eggs over just left town for the weekend...