FEBRUARY Hatch-A-Long 2015:Please Read First Post To Join H-A-L

[Purpletie3]

End of day 19 for me... I kind of thought they'd be rocking already?
Can someone list off milestones and when to expect them (like rocking, internal pip, etc)?
*chicken eggs, btw...

This may depend upon your breed and incubation technique.

Did you draw in your air cells on the eggs? If so, that's where you are looking for that pip. They will pip internally first and usually follow with the external pip within 12 hours. However, you won't see this internal pip unless they go early and you are doing your 18 day candle or they are late and you are checking them for viability.

After the egg pips externally they usually rest. It may be another several hours or 12 hours or so before they start chipping a circle around their shell. Then they pop the top on it and they flop their head out...you swear they will asphixiate because their little head is usually flopped over...they will flop around and fall on their backs and their heads and then sleep and then fumble around some more.

I usually don't see mine rock because I carton hatch for the most part.

Day 19 is early for rocking...I would start looking for something on day 20...day 21. I think the first thing you may notice is just a tiny fracture in the shell.

Hardest part is just watching...and not doing anything...and not opening your incubator. Good luck!

 

[rainbowchick]

This may depend upon your breed and incubation technique.  

Did you draw in your air cells on the eggs? If so, that's where you are looking for that pip. They will pip internally first and usually follow with the external pip within 12 hours. However, you won't see this internal pip unless they go early and you are doing your 18 day candle or they are late and you are checking them for viability.

After the egg pips externally they usually rest. It may be another several hours or 12 hours or so before they start chipping a circle around their shell. Then they pop the top on it and they flop their head out...you swear they will asphixiate because their little head is usually flopped over...they will flop around and fall on their backs and their heads and then sleep and then fumble around some more. 

I usually don't see mine rock because I carton hatch for the most part. 

Day 19 is early for rocking...I would start looking for something on day 20...day 21. I think the first thing you may  notice is just a tiny fracture in the shell.

Hardest part is just watching...and not doing anything...and not opening your incubator.   Good luck! 

Yeah, I marked the air cells. Although even with dry hatch method some of them seemed quite small. I'll have to go even drier (20-30% instead of 30-40%) on my next hatch...

I'm not planning on opening that bator for anything! I'll even leave the chicks in there till all 5 hatch, or day 23, whichever comes first. I'm just really hoping they make their appearance before my "Backyard Chickens" class at my kids' school on Wednesday!

 

[ChickenLady2014]

Today is lockdown for me. I filled all my wells with water and put wet papertowel down so the little one won't get stuck in the grate. Set 6 silkie eggs and only made it to lockdown. I am happy with the one it is better than none. I know someone who set 15 and at 5 days no development on any. So I am happy with my 1. Come on little one hatch for momma.

Hope you 1 egg hatches for you : )

 

[Purpletie3]

I just pulled the remaining 3 chicks out of the incubator. No more pips overnight so, i candeled to find one had internally pipped. so, I made an air hole for him and put him back in the incubator...hopefully he will hatch before he dries out. None of the other eggs looked viable.

 

[BonRae67]

Hope you 1 egg hatches for you : )

Thank you!

 

[nab58]

End of day 19 for me... I kind of thought they'd be rocking already?
Can someone list off milestones and when to expect them (like rocking, internal pip, etc)?
*chicken eggs, btw...

I'm using a brinsea mini advance.....
Day 18 lockdown
On day 20,
Egg 7 pipped 8am hatched 7:45pm
Egg 2 pipped 9am hatched 6:45pm
Egg 6 pipped 9am hatched 7:30pm (lightest egg 53 grams)
Egg 4 pipped 10am hatched overnight
Egg 1 pipped 6pm hatched next day at 8am (heaviest egg 62 grams)

Just to add...I didn't see any rocking or peeping before they pipped. I'm not sure how you detect an internal pip other than candling...which I didn't do.

 

[scflock]

Well, I had a long hatch this weekend. Only wound up with 12 of 20, and all looked good at lockdown. It was a very staggered hatch. The first Polish hatched at 7:00PM on day 21, one Maran at 8:AM on day 22, then roughly a chick every few hours through the morning of day 23. There never was a flurry of activity, they seemed to just be coming out one at a time. Yesterday was day 23, and by the end of the day all of the live chicks were in the brooder. There was one pip left in the bator that had pipped that morning, but never progressed beyond geting it's beak through the hole. By 10 last night, it was barely moving. Call it cold hearted, but I've never had success helping one tthat never made it further than that. I shut the incubator down and removed the eggs. None of the other 7 had even pipped. They looked good candled at day 18, so I didn't even do eggtopsies. I would rather let them die in the shell than go through the trauma of culling more chicks.
The good: All that hatched are very healthy and active. No curled toes or splayed legs. I hatched one cuckoo maran from a large egg, and he is massive. He looks like a little silverback gorilla. I'm going to name him Coco. You older people may know who that is

The other thing that I love is the Ecoglow. This is my first time using it on fresh chicks, and I am very happy with it. It warms just like I expected, but the benefit I am noticing that I had not read about is that the chicks are much more calm and tame. Under heat lamps, my chicks have always started flitting around and trying to get away when I came in from above to check on them. With the Eco glow, they run out from under it as soon as they hear me, and run to my hand when I put it in the brooder. It really seems to keep them more calm and happy.
The bad: Trying to figure out why I had such a drawn out hatch with low results. I ran my humidity a little lower this time (35%) for the first 18 days, but I don't think that was the culprit. The chicks that did hatch were very healthy, and the shells looked nice and clean. My guess is low temperature. I have ordered a Spot Check to use on my next setting this Friday.
Anyway, that's my results. Here's a few pics of the gang

 

[rainbowchick]

So cute!!
I'm hoping to save up for a brooder plate soon- boy are they pricey! I'll be improvising with a heating pad and supplementing with a heat lamp. We'll see how it goes...

 

[scflock]

So cute!!
I'm hoping to save up for a brooder plate soon- boy are they pricey! I'll be improvising with a heating pad and supplementing with a heat lamp. We'll see how it goes...

I still use the heat lamp once I move them to the outside brooder, but I am loving how relaxed they are under the ecoglow

 

[ChickenLady2014]

I just pulled the remaining 3 chicks out of the incubator. No more pips overnight so, i candeled to find one had internally pipped. so, I made an air hole for him and put him back in the incubator...hopefully he will hatch before he dries out.  None of the other eggs looked viable.

Good luck with the remainder egg, we are all cheering it on