Those who are engaged in breeding chickens know that it is better to replenish livestock on their own, and not to buy young animals on the side: it is not only more profitable, but also more reliable. At the same time, with self-breeding there is one nuance that makes the poultry farmers pretty nervous - this is the moment of hatching of the chick from the egg. The process is exciting for many farmers, since they don’t know whether to help the chicken come to the world - we’ll find out in the article.
Signs of Upcoming Hatching
The development of the embryo from zygotes to fully formed chicks takes three weeks (21 days). By this time, the chicken is ready to be born. For about 17-19 days, you can hear a squeak from an egg and a slight rustling: this chick turns over inside, scratching the shell with its beak and claws. At this time, a crack may form on the shell.
Over time, it will expand, and a hole will appear in which the chick's beak will be visible. The process of transition of a crack into a hole should not take a lot of time (not more than three hours).
Did you know? Remotely resembling incubator devices were created more than 3,000 years ago in Egypt. Constructions close to modern apparatuses appeared in Europe and the States only in the 19th century.
How long do chicks hatch from an egg
From the moment when the crack appears on the shell, it is necessary to closely monitor the birth of the chick. After two or three hours, a hole should form: it will gradually expand. This should take from 6 to 12 hours. When the shell splits into two parts, the chicken will need another hour or two to dry, recuperate and adapt to the new habitat.
Do I need to help the chicken hatch from the egg
Hatching from the egg, the chick spends a lot of strength. But, nevertheless, this process is laid down by nature, and the natural course of things should not be hindered. If you intervene and do something wrong, you can seriously harm the baby.
We need to resort to help only in extreme cases, when, 12 hours after the hole had formed, the nestling still could not split the shell.
Learn how to incubate chicken eggs, how to care for chickens after an incubator.
Why a chicken can't hatch itself
Possible reasons why a chick cannot break a shell:
- the chicken is very weak or not at all viable;
- the shell is too hard and strong;
- the shell is dry;
- the nestling is not endowed with the hatching instinct.
Did you know? On the territory of the Soviet Union on an industrial scale, the production of incubators began in 1928.
How to help the chick hatch from the egg
In order not to resort to drastic measures, it is possible to slightly ease the course of the natural process. To do this, about the 19th day of the testicles in the incubator, twice a day, a warm shower should be arranged for them by spraying the shell lightly. This will slightly soften the hard shell and make it easier for the chicken to free itself.
Also, if the eggs are in the incubator, then the entire incubation period should maintain the air humidity at a certain level.
Learn how to properly feed chickens in the first days of life, how to treat diarrhea in chickens, how to determine the sex of a chick, how to transport day-old chickens, how to use an infrared lamp to heat chickens.If the chick, despite all these measures, can not break the shell within 12 hours after the appearance of the hole, he will need help. It is necessary to gently knock the hard shell towards the blunt end, without touching the film. If this does not help, then you need to free half of the egg from the shell.
It may also be necessary to help the chicken if the egg is 19-20 days old, and a knock and a squeak can be heard from it. In this case, you need to look at the egg to the light to determine the position of the beak.
At this point, you need to drill a small hole and knock off a hard shell, leaving a whole film. Then you need to check the position of the beak again and make a hole in the film so that the beak can squeeze into it. Breaking the film to the chick will be under force.
Important! It is necessary to act extremely carefully, since if the film is damaged, there will be bleeding, and most likely the chicken will die.In order not to damage the egg film when tearing the hard shell, it is necessary to slightly bend it with your finger. You can also soften the shell with warm water from a spray bottle.
As you can see, helping the chick to be born is not difficult. The main thing - do not miss the right time and act with extreme caution. Having coped with the task once, it will not be so terrible for you to do this procedure again.
Video: how eggs can be helped
Whether to help the chicken hatch: reviews
