Hatch time length? Khaki hatch in progress! **PIC ADDED**

[RavenStorm]

One of the Khaki Campbell eggs in my incubator just pipped sometime between 5:30 and 6:30PM! I'm so excited and hope the others follow soon, but I'm curious because I've never had a successful hatch from an incubator before. How long on average does it take from the first pip for them to finish the zip around, and then push out of the shell? Around how many hours I can I be comfortable waiting before I need to start getting worried if nothing happens? I haven't seen any progress in two hours now, so they rest and takes naps between steps?

 

[NYRIR]

According to Storey's guide...they can take 24-48 hours from pip to zip.... better get your coffee ready

 

[RavenStorm]

Quote:
Yeah, I have that book too and it said that, but I'm a nervous nelly with my first batch to reach this far and I wanted more details than it had. Good thing I took a nap today! No way will I be able to sleep tonight!

 

[NYRIR]

Hope it happens soon....or you'll be dead tired tomorrow!

 

[RavenStorm]

Second egg just pipped!

 

[RavenStorm]

As of this morning, all the eggs I thought might hatch have pipped! There's one that hasn't done anything, but the air sac looks weird so I figured it was dead. Egg number one has even started to zip! It's barely a few millimeters long so far, but still I'm excited!

I thought that all of the pips would be at the top of the egg on the blunt end though when they first break through. One of the eggs has pipped on the blunt end, but on the side. It's kind of low on the side too, but not all the way at the bottom. Another egg is also pipped low on the side, but on the pointy end of the egg. I'm not sure why this is, because of course I went into lock-down on Sunday and stopped turning them so shouldn't they have righted themselves?

How can I tell if I need to intervene and help them? I saw the cracks at 3AM this morning, and now it's 7AM and no progress.

 

[NYRIR]

I would wait a bit....is the humidity up?

 

[RavenStorm]

We have a hatch!

Egg #1 zipped all the way around by 8AM, and then I figured it was going to rest and get ready for the final push. I sit down, browse the boards, get some coffee, and then suddenly I hear pepping! I rush in and missed the actual birth, so I'm sad about that, but I am still bouncing in my seat to see this little cutie! Now the other eggs are noticeably moving after hearing their sibling call out too, so hopefully I can catch one of the other births!

Sorry there aren't more, the incubator is curved plastic so there's a glare issue no matter what angle. I was lucky to get this one.

Edited to add: Yes, the humidity was bumped up starting on lock-down. The wet-bulb was steadily in between 90-92 degrees, which I believe means that the humidity is around 70-75%. Don't pay attention to the readings in the picture, I had to pull the wet-bulb wick out of the water to put the rubber mat down so the ducklings wouldn't get their feet stuck in the wire mesh covering the water wells underneath.