[Tony H]

can anybody help ? once a chick starts to break out of its egg how long should it take to completly hatch 

[kegs]

I've hatched 3 batches with an incubator this year (so I'm no expert) but once they started breaking the shell the longest one took a whole day to completely hatch.   I was a nervous wreck.  Good luck.  :blink:

[Tony H]

Thanks kegs im diying to keep looking but i know i cant 

[GrannieAnnie]

They can take up to 24 hours Tony, but whenever I had a late one, I always worried it would get too exhausted and die.

Sorry Kerry, that's what you just said!! 

[Casey76]

It can actually take upto 36 hours!

Normally the chick "pips" the shell, making a tiny hole or crack, then it has to rest.  It can rest for hours and hours, making those watching bite out fingernails and pull out our hair

Once they start to "zip" the shell, this normally goes pretty quickly, within an hour to two.

But sometimes they start to zip then stop (and give those watching heart attacks of nervousness)

I take it, that you can't see through the top of your incubator?

how many eggs do you have set?

I would take a quick peek 36 hours after the first egg pipped (remember chicks are Ok without food and water for 72 hours after hatching), and then check again every 24 hours.