They need their eggs to hatch on a single day, maybe within a 12 hour period, so they can ship the chicks. Effectively, large hatcheries are thus selectively breeding for a narrow hatch window. Offspring that are slow to hatch will not become breeders if the hatchery is hatching their own replacement stock.
Over time, I would expect that selecting for a narrow hatch window would tend to produce chicks that hatch more closely to the day ideal. A broody hen one that is in the mood to set on eggs can save you a lot of work, and I think the chicks raised by her are smarter and better able to take care of themselves. She keeps them warm. She teaches them to eat. It can take several hours from the first pip to complete hatch.
The chick is still connected to the egg. It takes time for these membranes to dry and disconnect from the shell wall. The chick is also working on building strength. In a normal hatch, the chick will take a few seconds to work at hatching.
It may push with great force, then take a long break to recoup its strength. Shrinkwrap is where the inner membrane of the egg, the rubbery layer beneath the shell, starts to dry out. As it does, the membrane becomes tough and inflexible. Assisting in a hatch is more often than not a fruitless endeavor. It must be a last resort type of action. Often when a chick has been assisted in a hatch it will die a few hours to a few days later.
I sometimes wonder if there is something more wrong when a chick is unable to break through on its own. So if there is nothing else to be done and the chick will die anyway, then you have nothing to lose but try to help. The other chicks will have already pipped and hatched while the problem egg is still in the pip stages. Work very slowly, again the chick is still attached to the eggshell so any sudden movements can cause the chick to bleed to death.
Only remove a small bit at a time and see if the chick can progress on its own. Try gently tearing these strips and see if the chick can take it from there. Give the chick some time between assisting. Humidity levels were kept too high for her to dry out. Early hatching is generally due to temperatures being too high, either during shipping if eggs were sent by post, or in the incubator itself.
It's possible that the chick will be smaller than others who go the full 21 days, and they can also be weaker. They should be left in the incubator to dry off and fluff up for at least 24 hours. Remember, new babies are sustained by the yolk and can survive without food or drink for between one and two days after hatching. So if your early chick looks as though she needs a little more time in her incy-spa, don't be afraid to leave her there.
She may also need a little extra help to stand at first, but early chicks do generally catch up within a few days. This Light Sussex hatched two days early and sat back on his 'elbows' at first, but within three days was standing normally and is now a large and very vocal rooster cockerel. Whilst it's usual for chicken eggs to pip at day 21, it's by no means unusual for them to start later. That can mean too low a temperature throughout incubation; a one-off fall in incubator temperature for example if you've had an electricity outage ; cold spots if you're using a still air incubator; or if eggs were sent by post they may have got cold in transit.
It's also sometimes a result of eggs being older when they're set in the incubator. I've had older eggs hatch as late as day I will never discard an egg from the incubator before that, as long as it was showing signs of development when I candled it before lockdown. This is one of my Wyandottes who hatched at day She's now a large and healthy adult. There is. In fact some people use this test to assess their eggs before lockdown, just to make sure there's viable life.
See more about it here. Resist the temptation - and it is very tempting, especially when it's your first or second hatch and you're worried because it feels like the chick is taking an eternity. Remember though: it can take over 24 hours from pip to hatching. On the 18th and 19th day, the chick positions itself with its head back and its beak toward the air sac. It absorbs the rest of the yolk into its body for use as food after hatching.
On day 20, the chick pierces the membrane into the air chamber. The chick breathes air for the first time, and you may hear the chick peeping inside the egg. This is called pipping. On the 21st day, the chick begins to break out of the shell.
Using its egg tooth, it first pecks a hole through the shell. Then it pecks a circle around the end of the egg. The chick twists its neck and pushes with its feet and breaks the shell open. Healthy chicks accomplish this in a few hours.
Our chicks looked dead when they hatched. Was that normal? Hatching out of the egg is hard work.
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