Eggl Hatching is Nerve wracking!

[cochinfan]

I just went out to shut the door to the coop. I heard loud baby peeping. I have three dog crates in the coop right now each with a hen and several babies but all seemed asleep. Where was that peeping coming from?!? I shined the flashlight all around trying not to wake too many birds. then I glanced at a pile of eggs that I had collected as having been pushed out of the nests by the hens. I had assumed that they were duds or had gotten too cool to survive. Well one of them was in the process of hatching. Thank goodness I found it. I would have been devastated if I had found it in the morning! Now I'm worried that some of the other eggs may hatch but they were all very cool. I held them up to my ear to listen for peeping. This whole hatching thing is stressing me out. The next hen that goes broody is getting an ice bath LOL!!

 

[cmom]

Do you have an incubator you can put the eggs in? Have you candled them?

 

[cochinfan]

I don't have an incubator but the eggs had cooled quite a bit. They were cool to the touch. I have no way of knowing how long they were not being sat on. Can you tell if a chick in an egg is alive when you candle or just that there is a chick in it? My candling techniques are not great but I'm willing to improve my skills so as not to face this again!