First time Hatching

[melissab77]

We have eggs in an incubator and we can hear chirping, do we just wait until the chicks break through their egg or is there something we need to do to help the chicks hatch? We are so excited!!

 

[Chick-az-ee]

Just let them do their thing. It can take up to 24+ hours after the first break in the shell.

 

[melissab77]

They haven't broke the shell yet. We can hear it chirping and the egg moves but it has not broken through the shell. Could the shell be too hard?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

We have eggs in an incubator and we can hear chirping, do we just wait until the chicks break through their egg or is there something we need to do to help the chicks hatch? We are so excited!!

The best thing you can do is let them hatch naturally. Assisting should only be done if the chick is malpositioned or in distress. If there is chirping from inside the egg prior to external pipping you know the chick has successfully internally pipped into the air cell and generally you will see an external pip anytime within 24 hours. Once you see the external pip it can take another 24 hours before the chick actually starts the zip. (The zipping process is usually fairly quick. If chick starts to zip and stalls for a long period that's usually a sign of something wrong.)

Best of luck on the hatch!

 

[melissab77]

Thank you. We are so excited! Trying to explain to the kids to wait it takes time is hard. They are ready now.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you. We are so excited! Trying to explain to the kids to wait it takes time is hard. They are ready now.

I don't think it's much easier for us adults either...lol My 7 year old son handles it a lot better than I do-the waiting that is...lol