Am I just a worried chicken mama?

[cluckcluckgirl]

It's day 21 for 2 of the eggs in the incubator, and so far there is no pips and only minuscule movement. Am I just worrying too much or is this normal?

 

[Ridgerunner]

It’s hard not to worry, even if you’ve done it a few times. But yes, that is pretty normal.

The 21 day thing is just a guideline, a target. For a lot of different reasons the eggs can be either early or late, even a couple of days either way. If you are seeing the eggs move, you are probably doing OK. If you tap on the incubator you may even hear them peep back at you.

Are you sure you are counting the days correctly? That’s a real common error on here. People often go into lockdown a full day before they are supposed to and usually still get good hatches. This incubation stuff is not real precise. That can lead to worry.

An egg does not have 24 hours’ worth of development two minutes or two hours after it is put in the incubator. It takes it a full day to get a day’s worth of development. A real easy way to check yourself with chicken eggs is that the 21 days of development are up on the same day of the week you set them. If you started them on a Friday they should hatch on a Friday. But 21 days is just a target.

I wish you luck. It’s an exciting but worrying time.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Thank you for the response.

This is my first time incubating and reading articles can only get you so far.

I set one on the evening of Friday the 21 and another early the next day (Saturday). I'm going to have to go tap on the glass just to try that out!

Until they hatch, I'll try to remain somewhat patient.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Two eggs on day 20 have some good rocking if you start to chirp like a chick.