Hatching Today...I'm Terrified!

[Stacieb2121]

Hi everyone! I'm new here, and I know there are a hundred posts probably just like this but I need some hand holding.
I'm a teacher at a boys juvenile detention facility and this is our second try at hatching chicks in the classroom. The last time we had a very old incubator that did not regulate temperature very well and we didn't have a single one hatch. The boys had spent so much time learning about the timeline and the embryo's and became very attached to this project and their eggs. It was hard to see that kind of disappointment.

This time we used a better incubator with an automatic turner. Everything has been good except we live in south Texas and the humidity has been between 65% and 75% the whole time. This is without any water inside the incubator.

Anyway today is day 21 and this morning there was peeping and then pipping. One little guy has pecked a hole large enough that I can somewhat see inside the egg. What worries me is he started this at 9 am. He went from a small pip to this hole quickly and has made little to no progress since although I can see him moving around and his little beak come up. Should he have been out by now?

Total I have 6 that have pipped throughout the day, lots of movement and lots of peeping.

This is more stressful than when I gave birth to my own son.
Any advice anyone could give me would be great!!!

Thanks,
Stacie

 

[Tuffoldhen]

They take 24 hours or longer from a pip to zipping out of the egg! Patience!!!

Go find something else to do they will hatch on their own and in their own time. They are resting, learning to breathe and finishing up absorbing the yolk sac.

 

[Laney]

Good Luck Stacie!!!! I know you have a lot of young men counting on you!!! That is stressful. I know they are counting on this chicks too.

I have my fingers crossed for you!!!

Laney

 

[Stacieb2121]

Thank you...both of you!
I'm sitting here in my classroom next to my incubator talking to them. My last class was at 2:00. I can't make myself leave

I keep reading on different sites, (grrr curse the internet!!!), that too much humidity will cause them to pip but not hatch. Do you think that the humidity sitting that high all 21 days is going to cause this kind of problem?

 

[Laney]

It's always possible. But if they are zipping already (making their way around the egg) then I think the danger of them drowning in the egg has passed.

What happens when the humidity is too high is that all of the moisture does not evaporate from the egg and when the chicks break thru the air cell there is in influx of water and they drown. It only takes a little bit to drown them.

If you can keep an eye on them for a little bit, then go ahead, it won't hurt anything, really helping them out of the shell too early won't help them survive past a few hours. If they need help getting out it needs to happen at just the right time, when the yolk is absorbed and they are ready to come out.

They will pip, rest, zip and rest a bit, then zip some more. It's an exhausting process for them. Please be sure to post pictures when you're done. I know you probably can't post pictures of the boys with their chicks, but if you could it would be wonderful as well. We'll settle for pics of the chicks though. It can take up to 24hrs for those babies to come out of their shells.

(Disclaimer, all this information is from reading on BYC, I'm on my first hatch too!!!! Due Oct 25th)

Laney

 

[Happy Chooks]

Good luck!

 

[Stacieb2121]

I swear not 5 minutes after I sent that message he hatched!!!
Thanks for the good juju

How can I post these pics?

 

[Stacieb2121]

Nevermind...I figured it out...geeez the county will hire anyone

 

[D10chickenmom]

Happy Birthday Lil Buddy! Congrats Staccie and to all the guys! Hope they were all there to see it too!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Awww, congrats! Now for all the other "little buddies" to hatch.