Day 22 incubating egg and it is moving! EDIT: Hatching...Is it taking too long?

[MinxFox]

I don't know if it is actually a real heat lamp or not, but I put a 75w bulb in it. It is a mettle lamp that has a clip on the end of it so I can clip it to the crib. I normally place it at one end of the crib so that the peachick can get away from it if it needs to but normally when they are little they do not stray far from the light.

Here is a photo of the crib and you can see the light in there. I usually put a piece of wood in there to clip the lamp to.



I have another question:
What do you all use for flooring for your peachicks? In the past years I have used the method of taking two old towels and layering them in the bottom of the crib. This gives a nice floor for the chicks, but it is not so fun to clean. Does anyone have a better way to do it that makes for easier cleaning? I think some of you use stuff sort of like what they put in with hamsters and things right? Maybe I will have to give my boyfriend some towels to borrow too...

 

[casportpony]

I use towels and just do lots of laundry!

 

[MinxFox]

Haha yeah I do love the towels. You can pick them up and shake them out in the backyard then wash them but I wasn't sure if there was something easier. I also like the towels because they provide some good grip for the chicks when they are learning how to walk. Isn't newspaper bad to use when they are little because it is harder for them to grip?

 

[casportpony]

Haha yeah I do love the towels. You can pick them up and shake them out in the backyard then wash them but I wasn't sure if there was something easier. I also like the towels because they provide some good grip for the chicks when they are learning how to walk. Isn't newspaper bad to use when they are little because it is harder for them to grip?

Yes, so are my hardwood floors!

 

[Frosty]

Haha yeah I do love the towels. You can pick them up and shake them out in the backyard then wash them but I wasn't sure if there was something easier. I also like the towels because they provide some good grip for the chicks when they are learning how to walk. Isn't newspaper bad to use when they are little because it is harder for them to grip?

Newspaper can cause spraddle leg because they can slip. I used wood shavings for Maya (not the ones for hampsters, they use cedar a lot of times and thats bad for birds) but they can make a mess with that and they get it in their water.

 

[casportpony]

I like the cheap 30"x52" towels that Walmart sells.

 

[MinxFox]

I guess we will stick with the towels then. We have a big stack of old towels we use for animals. Luckily now that the puppy has been potty trained we won't need them for her anymore.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Yoda, I looked back at last years hatch records,my longest incubation til hatch was 27 days on 2 eggs but they both were pipped at 26days,I was busy and couldn't assist them.I've heard wld reasons for curled toes,one was eggs not being rotated enough but mine turn every 3 hours and I rotate them end for end once a day.Brad Legg gave me the upping humidity advice and after seeing over 600 of his breeding birds I didn't see a one with curled toes.

 

[Yoda]

How many thermometers do you have? What kind of incubator you have? If it is a cabinet turn it on and place a thermometer on each rack. I bet your temp is going to be between 100-101 on the higher racks and lower towards the bottom. Higher temp = shorter incubation period. One question - why do you assist them at hatching? I had a brand new Reptipro 6000 incubator that is set at 100 degrees but the inside temp is 97.6 towards the top and 96.5 on the bottom. I use this for Emu eggs, but a lot of people use it for other birds and reptile eggs. Well anyways the eggs on the shelf hatch first and the eggs on the bottom hatch a day or two later because the temp difference. If your chicks are hatching a day early then the temp is slightly higher then 99.6. As for the last line I cannot comment onto why, but a statement was written in another thread stating "only the strongest survive"

 

[MinxFox]

Well tonight after we went to church I helped my boyfriend set up the fold up crib for the peachick and I put some branches in there for it to jump and roost on. I checked the egg and it has a small hole in it now. Aaron told me it didn't have that when he left for church with me so now it begins! I am going to leave my phone on tonight so that if it hatches he can call me because last year I had several chicks hatch at night. It didn't move when I saw it tonight but I didn't look at it long and also I figure it is tired from pecking a hole in the egg.

When Peep was hatching out of his egg he pecked a hole in the side center of the egg and also he was not faced the correct way so we had to help him out. Luckily this peachick is making a hole right where it should. This is great!