Early Peeps

[swiggity_swarren]

Hey y'all!
I'm incubating for the first time, and as I was prepping my incubator for lockdown, one of my eggs had the audacity to peep at me as I was taking it out of the incubator (to a towel so I could get my auto turner out) and it almost gave me a fright! Does this mean I'll see little chicks in the next 48hrs? Day 18 just started for them (I started incubating in the evening) and I wasn't expecting them to come this early. The particular egg that peeped is pretty large, and it continues to occasionally peep and wiggle (I got barnyard chicks, so I have no idea what breed). Any big brains out there who can help me hypothesize? Thanks in advance!

 

[Tex452]

I have had them hatch that early before, it’s sad that too high temperatures can cause this, but I regulate my with two govee thermometers?
I believe some chickens grow faster than others, and like corturnix quail they hatch early?

 

[swiggity_swarren]

I've kept my incubator at a steady 100⁰, and my humidity has been between 44-50% until about two hours ago (I raised it to around 66% for lockdown). Perhaps it was a little on the warm side?

What surprises me is that it's one of my larger eggs causing the ruckus instead of my smaller eggs, the latter of which I'm guessing would be closer to the bantam variety (and therefore be the eggs that hatch first). Time will tell!