Day 21 and I awoke to "peep peep peep" Now I have a couple questions

[capstone]

8 AM I awoke to peeping. So as soon as it registered as to what I was hearing I jumped out of bed and woke our daughter up (scaring her half to death LOL). We got to watch the chick finish coming out of the shell. He is getting louder and louder and seems pretty strong. He/she is jumping around doing flips, silly bird will fit right in with this crazy household.

My questions are
1. how long can I leave him in there? I would like to wait and hopefully another will hatch soon so he can have a "moving" buddy
2. how long before I put food and water in front of him.
3. what do you put the water in? I do NOT want him to drown
4. our incubator says to have the heat lamp in the new home at 100 degrees is this correct.
5. I noticed one other egg has "pipped" not sure that is the right term (there is a crack in the egg and a tiny hole) how long before he comes out..... it has been 45 minutes now or should we assume he didnt make it?
6. any other advice at this point would be so helpful thank you so much.

Jacinta

 

[CindyJeann]

A momma hen will wait a day or two for all the eggs to hatch and that peeping jumping chick will hurry the others along so it's good to have him in there. I didn't start moving mine till they had dried completely. I noticed they napped alot that first day anyway and didn't really eat or drink much when they had it in front of them. Also I started them out with real shallow dishes for food and water and just kept adding little bits throughout the day.

 

[CindyJeann]

Oh, and some pippers will nap for hours before they start zipping.

 

[NorthTexaschick]

Good morning! Isn't it exciting to see those babies hatch? A batch of silkies just hatched for me a couple of days ago - cuteness overload!

You can leave the little one in the incy for a day or so. It will be nourished by the yolk it absorbed just before hatching.
I usually leave the chicks in the incubator until most of them have hatched. You don't want to unnecessarily open it and have your humidity drop.
You can go ahead and put food and water in the brooder with it/them as soon as you want. They may not be interested for a day or two, though, and that's fine. They will sleep a lot. Want to see something really cute? Sprinkle chick crumbles on a paper towel in the brooder and tap your finger on it. Cluck like a momma hen (buk buk buk) and the babies will come to see what goodies you have.
Many folks use a jar lid for water at first - nice and shallow. I don't measure the temp in my brooder, I just observe the chicks. If they are cold they will pile on top of each other; if they're too warm they will move away from the heat.
The other chick that has pipped may take 24 hours to hatch ( I know, it's maddening, isn't it!) So do your best to be patient. If you peep to it, does it peep back?

Best luck to you for a successful hatch, and enjoy those babies!

 

[capstone]

thank you for the advice.. you guys are wonderful
yes it is exciting and nervwracking all in one.. my goodness who would have thought the work involved in egg hatching LOL
I have been a nervous hen constantly checking humidity and temps.

I cant hear any new peeping since the one that has hatched is so darn vocal... nobody will get a peep in edgwise with him that is for sure.

AND YES THE WAITING IS MADDENING.... NO PATIENCE (points to self) HERE NONE AT ALL. but I am being a good girl and just watching through the window. ugghh

 

[charmayne]

hi ther there temperature should be between 90-95 degrees and every week after go down 5 degrees until they dont need the heat lamp anymore. i have hatched geese, chickens and ducks. hope this was helpful. also mix a half of cup of sugar to a gallon of water for the first few weeks.