I am doing this project for my pre-school class of 3 and 4 year olds. Everything has gone perfectly until the hatch. One pipped yesterday morning and made it about half way through the shell but died sometime over night. I have 2 more that pipped yesterday afternoon (early) and they have not made much progress, only a small hole (both through the shell and the membrane). I can see them breathing and hear an occasional peep but they seem to have stalled. Is this common? Should I help? I have water in both troughs and the vent open. I am afraid to increase the humity and cause them to drown. I guess since I have had one die I don't want the others too as well. Any suggestions on what to do will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Your humidity should be 75% to 85%.
Do the chicks look dry? if they do,
put a tiny bit of warm water in the hole,
but ONLY if it looks extreamly dry.

Do they look wet or sticky?

Another cause might be your overall temperature during the 21 days. If it was low,(98 or 99) then they will hatch late.

But i would say to just let it go for now, if it doesn't do anything for 12 hours, then you might want to help it. I strongly recommend NOT helping as you will probably get crippled chicks. But if it looks like it is going to die anyway then you could help.

Sometimes chicks pipe before they are really ready to, and thats fine, you just need to let them go and they will hatch when they are ready.
I hope this helps you, and i hope your chicks live
Rachel

Thanks Rachel! I guess that the chicks knew that I was disappointed about the first one dying because the two that seemed to be having so much trouble hatched by 11 am! They both look real good and are starting to dry. I have one more that has piped but nothing else as of yet. I am feeling quite reasurred. I still have about 6 that are due to hatch in the next two days. Thanks again for your help. Hopefully the others will go well.
Laurie

Glad it worked out, have fun with the peeps!
Rachel

Hi Laurie, alot of folks say to not help chicks, others say to help. I did help one chick who took what seemed like forever to hatch. Poor thing had a teeny hole pecked and the egg cracked just a little (half an inch) but seemed to stop there. I just pulled on the shell enough to finish cracking it the rest of the way around. Then the chick pushed himself out when he'd rested.

The chick was fine, and after drying I couldn't tell him from the others and all was well. Sometimes if you help a chick too early, the yolk isn't fully absorbed. If this happens and the yolk breaks, the chick can (and usually does) bleed to death.

Use the KeyWord search there to your left, and you will find the methods the experts here at the COOP use to help their chicks hatch. You will find the success and failure stories, which will help you decide what's best in your situation.

The two that hatched this morning are doing great...so far so good. They do seem to be pecking at the shell of the one that has only managed to get a small hole in the shell. He doesn't seem to be progressing much, I am hoping that he will make it out overnight. Will the other 2 hurt this one? I have a 4 yr old girl who cried and cried this morning over the death of the first chick (the one who never made it completely out of his shell) I really don't want to tell her that this one did not make it either. It was nice to hear that Hannah was able to sucessfully help one out. I think that I will wait until the morning and see how it is coming along. About how fast do they breathe? I can see him breathing but I don't know if it is labored or that is the way that they breathe. Thanks again for the advice!
Laurie

How long have the hatched chicks been in the incubator? it it has been over 10 hours then you will want to get them out, they may not look completly dry, but if you use a soft baby brush on them they will fluff up, or if it hasn't been 10 hours then just use a piece of cardboard and make a seperate area for the chicks right in the incubator so they don't bother the other eggs, you also don't want them rolling the eggs because the chick inside has to position it self to hatch and they can get messed up if they are rolled to much
you can tell the 4 year old that God missed that chick and wanted him back in heaven with Him, the little chick wasn't perfect on earth but he will be with God.
i know that helps sooth my younger siblings.

i hope all goes well,
Rachel

Hi Rachel!
How sweet your words are ... what a beautiful way to explain to the little ones. You're truly a blessing!
Just wanted to tell you that! ;o)

and Laurie,
How's the chicks doing? My daughters and I are anxiously awaiting for our egg to hatch ... started with 3 (small incubator, LOL) ... only 1 developing, but looking good ... Easter Sunday should be the day!

Oops ... hope I wasn't rude for barging in on your conversation here? Just couldn't keep quiet on this one. :o)
Patty

Well I have 3 chicks...the last one was born last night about 11:30 p.m. One of the first two to hatch seems to be having some problems breathing. He acts like he is gasping for air. They are in a brooder that is protected from drafts and the temp is staying right around 95. Is there something that I can do to help this chick that is having a hard time breathing?

I did tell my daughter that when he died he went back up to Heaven and she was a little relieved but still wanted him here! Oh the lessons in life!

If anyone had any suggestions as what to do with the chick that is gasping for air I will take any advice that I can. Should I take him away from the other 2? I don't want them to get sick too.

Good luck to your family Patty and hope that your hatch is sucessful!

thanks pattyj,
laurie, i am not sure about the breathing, is he standing and walking ok? if so, i would just let him go, he might grow out of it. but if you think it is serious, make sure he is 100 degrees, that little extra warmth will help, other than that you just have to go by instint, what ever your heart tells you, thats what i have to do most of the time. if you think he is sick then you should take him away, but put a soft rag in with him so he feels like he has got a buddy.
hope he makes it ok.
rachel