It talked to me!

[journey's end]

We're on day 18 and I went to turn the eggs for the last time before lockdown. I turned the egg and it talked to me!. Then I noticed a pip. My baby is hatching!!! I am now on a massive humidity booster, I've been having trouble keeping it up. It's a banty. Do banties hatch sooner than regular sized eggs?

Will post pics soon.

What's an OK level for humidity? Can I spritz the eggs to boost it a little faster? It's my first hatch so I'm clueless.

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

Do banties hatch sooner than regular sized eggs?

nope but if your temp was too high you may get an early hatch. 1 degree F too high will have them hatching about 24 hours early.

What's an OK level for humidity?

i think most people shoot for ~65-70% for hatch

Can I spritz the eggs to boost it a little faster?

i believe some people do this but it feels wrong in my gut to me...for chickens anyway. duck mummies wet the eggs, chickens do not. if you give duck mummies chicken eggs they end up drowning the chicks in the eggs this way, so i don't like the idea of doing it even a little bit.

good luck, post pics afterwards...

 

[journey's end]

Still nothing. I'm soo impatient. The first pip was at 2 in the afternoon yesterday. Last night I saw a tip of the beak. He's chirping still. But no hatch yet. The humidity went to 56% overnight, is that OK? I fixed it as soon as I woke up.

How long can it take to hatch after the first pip?

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

journey's end :

Still nothing. I'm soo impatient. The first pip was at 2 in the afternoon yesterday. Last night I saw a tip of the beak. He's chirping still. But no hatch yet. The humidity went to 56% overnight, is that OK? I fixed it as soon as I woke up.

How long can it take to hatch after the first pip?

I've had it take up to 18 hours.....patience!! If your humidity is 60%+ keep that 'bator closed and get a cup of coffee and a valium (LOL)....​

 

[ranchhand]

It can take 24 hours or so from pip to hatch. I had one banty in my last hatch and it hatched a full day before the others even pipped. So, could be. Do what you can to keep humidity up, but don't open the incubator, it will really mess up the humidity and temp.

Happy hatching!

 

[journey's end]

Thanks guys. I used a turkey baster in the air hole to get the humidity up, works wonders! I've kept the bator closed and the other 8 eggs still have nothing. I had no clue what was fertile as I tried to candle the banties but the shell is too thick, or something. Maybe my candler isn't strong enough, I had trouble with the brown eggs too.

 

[journey's end]

I just checked on them, one of my brown eggs is moving and chirping at me. I'm having trouble keeping the humidity up though. What's the lowest safe humidity that they can hatch at?