heard a peep yesterday, Now I feel it tapping the shell!

[missychicky]

I heard my egg peep last night, and this morning I put my hand over the egg and I felt the chick tapping at the shell! So exited! As far as i can tell there are is no pip, is that normal? How long untill the little fuzzbut makes its grand entrance?

 

[FenDruadin]

Congrats!! That is very exciting!!!

Now you have to avoid making the mistake I made the first time I incubated. Stop playing with the eggs! lol I know how amazing it feels to feel the little cheeper in there tapping, but once it breaks through the shell you can ruin its chances of getting out of the shell by handling it, or even by having the incubator open.

Once the shell is broken, even by a little bit, the inner membranes become very vulnerable to drying out. If they dry out, the baby gets stuck in place and can't turn in the shell to break its way out. Unless you help it, which is difficult and dangerous at best, it will die in there. Trust me--I lost one this way in my first hatch because I didn't know better and kept taking them out to hear them tapping.

What you need to do is put the eggs in the incubator and raise the humidity way high. You can do this by adding rags or sponges wet with warm water. Then close the incubator and don't open it again until the egg hatches. Even though you hear tapping, it may be another 24-36 hours before the first pip and another 24 hours after that before it hatches (longer if it's duck eggs). So don't fret.

Keeping the humidity up ensures that the membranes don't dry out.

Good luck, and enjoy! Hatching is the best fun in the world.

 

[missychicky]

I am using the broody method... Is there anything I can do to help my broody hatch the eggs?

 

[Kedreeva]

You can leave her alone to do it lol Chickens have been hatching eggs way longer than we have been incubating them. Just let her do her thing and it should work out all right.

 

[FenDruadin]

Oops--sorry. Didn't realize you were using a broody. You can ignore everything I said. Just let the chickie do her job.

 

[shadowpaints]

WOOHOOO!! my broody is on day 18! im so excited, i keep going to her nest box to listen LOL you and i are kinda hatch buddies!