Miracle in the Incubator: How 7 Chicks Emerged from Just 12 Eggs Against All Odds!
On Saturday morning, I noticed a tiny hole in one of the eggs. It was day 18! It was too early for hatching so I assumed that maybe the hole came from bumping another egg, or from the incubator egg-turning apparatus. We kept an eye on the egg throughout the day. About mid-day, the hole had gotten a little bigger. It was about as big around as a fly. One was hatching!
This chick had 3 things working against it that made the next 24 hours super stressful for us.
- It was early. Too early. We couldn’t figure out whether it had already been developing in the nest for a day or two before incubation, or if it was just a fast grower. Was it underdeveloped??
- The head was improperly positioned. The head of the bird should be in the wide part of the egg where there is an air pouch to let them breath before trying to hatch. This chick’s head was at the narrow end.
- I figured this out later but some of the inner membrane of the egg was stuck to the chick’s head. This prevented it from turning in the egg to crack the top of the egg off, and get out.
All Saturday, we were seeking advice all over Facebook and TikTok. Everyone was saying, “Don’t help it!” I was up well into the night staring at that egg. The little beak would poke out of the hole but it wasn’t making any progress.
