[sarahs chicks]

HI, this my first time please excuse!! i have got some eggs due to hatch today(01/06/11)
a number pipped yesterday and have not made any progress!! my humiditiy is @75% but the membrane is still looking dry!! they are still alive i helpped 1 earlyier but it bled quite a bit(still alive though) i was going to put them under a broody chicken i have too see if that would help???. Any comments would be greatfully received

[Junie]

I have read that once pipped, they breath the air, which starts them eating all the nutrients that they have inside the eggs, my last few took a good 12-18 hours to progress after the first pipping although anothers have been quicker.  I would leave them to their own divices although my info is that humidity should be  at least 80 percent, so try to get that up alittle..

[sarahs chicks]

Thanks for that, ive keeped a constant watch on the humitity, i've never had a problem before!!
This is the 1st though with Bantams, Its been nearly 24hrs for some!!! I've had one hatch this afternoon in for hours its the ones that pipped before i worried about, Don;t like to see anything die that can be saved!!

[Helenaj]

Welcome to the forum! It can seem like an age for chicks to hatch once they start. If you do a search on here you'll see that some can take over 48hrs from first pip to leaving the shell. Putting hatching eggs under a broody at this late a stage is very risky as you don't know that she'll take to them.
Just don't be tempted to open the incubator too often (not more than once in any six hours if you really have to) as this lowers the humidity and makes it even more difficult for them to break free of the membrane. I only help a chick out if there is some dire need to do so and some on here argue that if it is too weak to hatch then it will probably die anyway, but I've never had a problem with that, thankfully.
Chicks are still attached to the shell lining by a thin "umbilical" which if torn before time can lead to death by blood loss. If you really feel you have to help one out, only remove tiny portions of shell from around the head area and from one wing - this should be sufficient to allow the chick to pull itself out of the shell. Don't go any lower as you risk breaking the umbilical.

Anyway, good luck with the hatch and keep us posted - and photos of new chicks are compulsory!