Hatching Chicks With A Heat Pad And A Egg Carton Experiment

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm glad I only found this thread this afternoon! I could not have endured 22 days of following this hatch! But now I am "all-in," so ..... fingers tapping, eyeballs snapping, let's get this show on the road! Come on you pippers 'n zippers, we're waiting for you with bated breath! Come to Mama!

 

[Eelantha]

I did some research and it said that it is okay to look at the egg on day 21 to see how it is going. Should I do it?

That date is for commercial incubators. This is an experiment... with potentially fluctuating results. Your chicks are peeping, but might not be ready to get out yet. They can peep up to four days before hatch, so think twice and use your judgement on whether or not you really must do it.

 

[DogAndCat36]

That date is for commercial incubators. This is an experiment... with potentially fluctuating results. Your chicks are peeping, but might not be ready to get out yet. They can peep up to four days before hatch, so think twice and use your judgement on whether or not you really must do it.

I know, but babies. I worry, but I will keep my cool.

 

[Eelantha]

I know, but babies. I worry, but I will keep my cool.

I know how you feel. I was up the walls with panic all week over my sick chick, and it took my mother's patience and wisdom to make me realize that biting my nails and marching holes in the floor would lead me nowhere. Like everybody else I had to learn patience, to give my peep time, to trust it to get better on its own. That's what my mother helped me do, and she was right, the peep did get better. So I'm telling you this in turn, fresh out of my own experience, that no matter how you wish to rush things, it really is better to leave things progress as they are. Your awaiting will be rewarded, and if the chick does not make it, that's because it was not meant to be. That's how Mother Nature works. Out of the losses rise the winners though, and the peeps who do make it to the world in their 'unconventional' hatching positions will transmit this to their offsprings, and if enough of the race surfaces that way, other changes might occur down the line over time. Good changes or bad ones though? Only time will tell. That's how adaptation and evolution works on this planet. It all starts in the embryo.... a tiny shift to spur a big overhaul ^^

 

[Flashpoint]

I know, but babies. I worry, but I will keep my cool.

Just know we are ALL with you on what you are trying to accomplish!! You got this!

Hope for the best and prepare for the worse. Believe me, it happens to all of us. I had a hatch last spring that was horrendous. After 50 plus years of hatching, I had the hatch from hell. Out of approx 40 eggs, only 9 survived and 7 of those were sticky chicks that had to be helped out of their shells and then bathed several times. I lost all my Midget White and Narragansett turkey eggs and some very special chicken eggs - but ended up with 9 very healthy "mutts".

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Day 22 (chicken incubation, 20 days)- The eggs have been fine, no pip yet. I want them to hatch soon! Can't wait! But not to early or they won't make it. I am excited! Here is another one of my "beautiful" drawings to cheer everyone up. View attachment 2084522

I just love your drawings!!!! I would hang your avatar, framed on my wall, I really like it.

 

[DogAndCat36]

I just love your drawings!!!! I would hang your avatar, framed on my wall, I really like it.

Thanks!

 

[DogAndCat36]

Day 24 (chicken incubation, 22 days)- The eggs haven't hatched yet, but I will give them time. I mean, they got this far so I'll wait. Also it is the morning, so who knows, they might start any second. Fingers crossed.

 

[ItisI]

Thx for update!

 

[BigBlueHen53]