First Attempt at Incubating Underway - UPDATE - Operation: Booties

[Happy Chooks]

Good luck!!!!! I had my first hatch a few weeks ago. It's so exciting!

Once the first chick hatches, that will bump your humidity up.

 

[mischievouschickens]

OK, now I got the setup pictures out of the way.... Guess what I found this morning? 6 PIPS!

I know anything can happen but I am sure surprised that they all decided to try coming out at the same time. I only noticed one at first and tried to take a picture of it. As I peered through the now seemingly itsy bitsy teeny tiny window, rubber necking all over the place to get good views of all the eggs, I noticed another pip, then another and another and another, etc. My heart jumped!

No more peeping from them just now though. I figure that first pip must take a lot a strength. I can imagine the little chickies just resting, panting and staring up at their accomplishment. "OK, I managed to crack it. Boy, am I winded. Better rest up first. Now if I can just start zipping a circle around this thing, I may just get out. Heck Clint Eastwood got out of Alcatraz one spoonful at a time. Why can't I get out of this confounded bubble!"

Here are some pictures I took of the pips. It's funny. I wonder while I was looking at the first pip, could the other pips have happened? I recall reading somewhere that you can actually here the pip? CRACK! Is this true? If so, then definitely it must have happened earlier today or last night. Funny, so far these 6 are right on time - it's the start of Day 21 today.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures. This is the first pip I noticed. It's the second egg from the left in the bottom row.

Here are some others. In the second row from the top, you can see the leftmost and 2 rightmost eggs have pips.

This picture shows the egg way in the back (furthest away from you) is pipped. The light is shining on it and on the wall of the egg carton.

In this picture, I attempt to show that all three eggs in the rightmost column have pipped. Can you tell? Also, my worries earlier regarding the "salty egg" are somewhat allayed. The egg in the corner is the "salty egg" and has a pip.

Please make it little chickies!

 

[mischievouschickens]

Quote:
Yes, I remember reading that somewhere. Thanks! I will definitely hold off on adding any more water then. The humidity is holding steady at 60%. I figure it's good enough until the first chickie hatches - oh so hoping it goes well.

 

[rarebreedeggs4u]

I'm so excited for you!!!

 

[mischievouschickens]

Quote:
Fun? I'm a nervous wreck - thanks to you! Actually, we're having an absolutely blast!

Thank you so much, Kathy! It's just amazing to see this whole process from start to finish. The anticipation is killing us. Oh, you will definitely get detailed reports. Hopefully not too much detail.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I never heard them pip, but I could hear them when they started zipping and pieces of shell would crack and break off.

Also, did you remove the vent plugs?

Let's go babies!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
Fun? I'm a nervous wreck - thanks to you! Actually, we're having an absolutely blast!

Thank you so much, Kathy! It's just amazing to see this whole process from start to finish. The anticipation is killing us. Oh, you will definitely get detailed reports. Hopefully not too much detail.

I am just so happy you are having a good time! It looks like you are going to have new babies today! YAY!
Details? Awww, I love the details!
Come on babies!

Oh yeah, like new2chooks said, be sure to open the vents. Oxygen is very important! I lost a batch when I didn't do it. (Actually, the holes on the bottom of the bator for oxygen were taped over).

 

[The Sheriff]

I been waitin' for this!

Put on a pot of coffee and get some fuzzy slippers. Get yourself a comfortable chair and park it right next to that bator. Notify the fam, work, friends, and relatives that you will be unavailable for the next few days. Oh, and get yourself one of those big magnifying glasses. They work really well to see right into the pip when the beak breaks thru the membrane. You can totally see the little egg tooth working. Stay hydrated. Stretch your legs from time to time to prevent deep vein thrombosis and enjoy!

Mary

 

[Happy Chooks]

C'mon babies, get cracking!

 

[mischievouschickens]

Happy Birthday, Salty!

e

Our very first chickie hatch!

:yiipchick

And to think, we were concerned about this egg's "appearance" earlier.

Maybe the "salt ring" is a good thing!

We were home all morning but every time I checked the eggs, no new developments. Same pips, no new ones and no zipping. It figures that when I remind myself that "a watched pot never boils", this happens. Ah, but we are so thankful for one hatching. Our daughter got to the see the little bugger too.

Funny, hatching in the egg carton has "prevented" the chick from completely extricating him/herself from the egg shell. It reminds me of a grown man falling "behind-first" into a barrel! It's legs are sticking up with its bum down below. Does anyone think that newborn chicks might have narcolepsy? Peep! Peep! Peep! Zzzzz... Zzzzz.... Zzzz.... Peep! Peep! Zzzz.....

Here are some pictures of our newborn:

Oh yeah, we also noticed that the other pipped eggs are *just* beginning to zip. Hopefully we can catch some of the live action.

Stay tuned and thanks for all the support. We're not cowboys, but YEEEHAWWWW!

e