Hello - Very excited! chicks about to hatch

[Twiga]

I am pretty new to raising chickens but we have four eggs in an incubator and they are squeaking! Does this mean they will come out in the next few hours or is it normal to hear noises a day or so before? They are due tomorrow and I daren't go out!
Any advice gratefully received...

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

If you can hear the chicks in the eggs it means they pipped internally, i.e. into the air cells. It takes a few hours from there before they'll pip externally, but they are on their way! Good luck with the hatch and keep us posted.

 

[N F C]

Good morning and welcome to BYC! How exciting to see new chicks emerge from the eggs. Maybe you could share some pictures? Glad to have you here and good luck with the new little ones.

 

[Twiga]

Welcome to BYC  ​ If you can hear the chicks in the eggs it means they pipped internally, i.e. into the air cells. It takes a few hours from there before they'll pip externally, but they are on their way! Good luck with the hatch and keep us posted.

Thank you, we now have one cracked and moving quite a lot!! One other als rolling slightly. Have had to leave the hoise but can't wait to get back to check on progress!

 

[HugHess]

Good deal! Congratulations on achieving your next major step to chickdom.
I just set my batch of Orpington eggs, so I hope to be like you when (they) grow up!
Best wishes for healthy happy babies, please keep us posted!
You keep hope alive for me! Thanks.
Take care,

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

How Egg-citing! Sometimes they will pip (poke a hole through the outer shell to breathe) and just sit there for 24+ hours. So don't panic when you see them just sitting there doing nothing. They are busy absorbing the last of the yolk and detaching from the inside of the shell. So just be patient and wait for them to zip out of the egg.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with the hatch! Here is a nice article from the Learning Center on Hatching Eggs you might like to check out while waiting! https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.
Yay for your first hatching process!

Hope all goes well!

 

[Twiga]

Update at 6.30pm - still only two pipped and rolling around a bit. Thanks to all your helpful posts i will not panic, and will just try to be patient. One of the eggs has only what looks more like a pushed out dent rather than a proper hole, so i thought of removing a tniy piece of shell to be sure it can breathe - is this s good idea?

 

[Twiga]

Ok now we have one out! I am leaving it in the incubator but it's slipping all over the floor which is plastic, the manual said to put down kitchen paper but when i did that it just soaked up all the humidity and became a wet mass . so i took it out. Should
I now leave this chick to fluff up and then maybe put some paper in. Also it is very low and he's quite tall, so he can't really stand fully upright. I don't want to move to the brooder as I am not sure the lamp i have is strong enough. wil replace in the morning so can he stay in the incubator all night? thanks