Almost time to Hatch!!

[julieleonard]

Its almost time to hatch my egg date was january 6 and last night i seen and heard the egg move how long will it be before there is a hatch i know 21 days but iam anticipating this saturday what does it mean when the egg is moving besides life?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s hard to say exactly other than movement definitely means life. Congratulations on that.

Don’t get too hung up on the 21 day thing. That’s the ideal target but there are many different things that can cause the eggs to hatch a few days early or late. Things like heredity, humidity, size of eggs, how and how long you store them before hatch and who knows what else can affect it, but the biggest thing is average incubating temperature. If your incubator is running a little warm, they can hatch early or if it is cool, they can be late. Sounds like yours are going to be early.

I’ve had eggs in the incubator pipping when I went into lockdown. I’ve had eggs under a broody hatch two days early. Those chicks did OK.

There are a lot of things going in inside the egg before hatch. The chick has to position itself for hatch, which is probably the movement you are seeing. It has to switch from breathing in a liquid environment to breathing air. That’s what internal pip is all about. You may hear some peeping after they internal pip, especially if you tap the incubator a bit to get their attention.

The chick needs to absorb the yolk so it can go a few days without eating or drinking after it hatches. It needs to dry up some blood vessels it no longer needs. It does something with that goop it has been living in so the down dries nice and fluffy instead of all matted down.

Some chicks do some of this before internal pip. A lot do quite a bit between internal pip and external pip. These usually hatch pretty quickly after external pip. Some wait until after external pip to do a lot of this. These often cause us to worry because they take so long. A few have not totally finished before they zip and hatch. A lot of these still make it.

With all this, I can’t tell you any exact timetable. I suspect you are going to get really excited pretty soon. Good luck!!!!

 

[ZakoHero]

It’s hard to say exactly other than movement definitely means life. Congratulations on that.

Don’t get too hung up on the 21 day thing. That’s the ideal target but there are many different things that can cause the eggs to hatch a few days early or late. Things like heredity, humidity, size of eggs, how and how long you store them before hatch and who knows what else can affect it, but the biggest thing is average incubating temperature. If your incubator is running a little warm, they can hatch early or if it is cool, they can be late. Sounds like yours are going to be early.

I’ve had eggs in the incubator pipping when I went into lockdown. I’ve had eggs under a broody hatch two days early. Those chicks did OK.

There are a lot of things going in inside the egg before hatch. The chick has to position itself for hatch, which is probably the movement you are seeing. It has to switch from breathing in a liquid environment to breathing air. That’s what internal pip is all about. You may hear some peeping after they internal pip, especially if you tap the incubator a bit to get their attention.

The chick needs to absorb the yolk so it can go a few days without eating or drinking after it hatches. It needs to dry up some blood vessels it no longer needs. It does something with that goop it has been living in so the down dries nice and fluffy instead of all matted down.

Some chicks do some of this before internal pip. A lot do quite a bit between internal pip and external pip. These usually hatch pretty quickly after external pip. Some wait until after external pip to do a lot of this. These often cause us to worry because they take so long. A few have not totally finished before they zip and hatch. A lot of these still make it.

With all this, I can’t tell you any exact timetable. I suspect you are going to get really excited pretty soon. Good luck!!!!

I agree with Ridgerunner

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Its almost time to hatch my egg date was january 6 and last night i seen and heard the egg move how long will it be before there is a hatch i know 21 days but iam anticipating this saturday what does it mean when the egg is moving besides life?

Your on day 18? Have you stopped turning, upped humidity and locked down? What breed eggs have you got in?
I have had eggs rock a day even two days before actual hatch... you have heard them chirp??
Your temps may have run a bit high and sometimes that can cause an early chick. and some breeds take less time as others, my serama usually hatch day 18-19

 

[ZakoHero]

Your on day 18? Have you stopped turning, upped humidity and locked down? What breed eggs have you got in?
I have had eggs rock a day even two days before actual hatch... you have heard them chirp??
Your temps may have run a bit high and sometimes that can cause an early chick. and some breeds take less time as others, my serama usually hatch day 18-19

Nice post!Where ever you go that thread gets the best answers!LOL!