I hear peeping...

[Mikesbirds]

It's day 20 and I hear peeping!

This is REALLY exciting.
Mike and Mom

 

[hinkjc]

Congrats Mike..it won't be long.

I had a chick hatch today on day 20 and other pipped. I'm so eggcited!

Jody

 

[Mikesbirds]

What breed are you hatching? We have a mix of breeds from our own birds: a couple of cubalayas, phoenix, and blue Hamburg. Also we got some Buff Orpington eggs from a friend in town. I didn't think any were going to grow because the incubator plug got knocked out on night #3 and it was down to 76 degrees F by morning in there, but we still had about 3/4 of the eggs develop. We put some quart jars of water in the bottom as a heat sink this time, maybe that helped keep it from getting too cold too fast that night. We made our incubator from a plastic ice chest and this is the first time we've used it with a fan in it. It was great, how well the temperature held this time. Every time I checked it was right there, 99 to 100 degrees F.

I want to go peek inside but I had better stay here and read some more posts instead! Ours doesn't have a window so I have to peek in through the crack at the top where the lid is propped slightly open for ventilation.

Waiting is SOOOO hard. Good thing Mike's not home today.
Mike's Mom

 

[Tsagirl]

This part is so exciting!!

 

[hinkjc]

I'm hatching white araucana..still only one chickie, but I see other pips on the shell. I have a window on my hatcher so can peek now and then to see how it's coming along. That must be tough waiting when you can't really see in there..that would drive my crazy. Good luck to you. It sounds like you have a nice variety due to hatch.

Jody

 

[RioLindoAz]

How exciting!!! I Wish you luck on your hatch!!!!!!

 

[Mikesbirds]

Four hatched, about 6-7 are pipping, it's day 21 +6hrs...Tragedy, the biggest chick somehow got over the hardware cloth barrier and slipped into the water reservoir and drowned. Yeesh. Looks like we need to change the setup some. Looks like I have one phoenix and 2 blue H's so far. The dead one looked like a really big blue or splash H. I had better get them into the brooder faster so no more fall down. Meanwhile I stuffed some paper towel into the tiny gap he fell through. I hate it when they die because of my stupidity.

 

[hart31]

bummer!

 

[Mikesbirds]

All done! We have 17 little peeps. 2 Orpingtons, 1 cubalaya, one leghorn/cubalaya cross, a couple of barred rocks,and a whole bunch of blue hamburgs. They (the blues) sure are hardy; I got 100% hatch from their eggs. I think adding the PC fan to the bator really made a difference. Thanks for all the good ideas,everyone!
Mike