Lockdown?

[rosemi78]

OH MY GOD, I can hear an egg chirping!!! Does that mean the chick has internally pipped? How long do I let it chill out in there before I worry about an external pip? I know it has the air sack to breathe from, but how long does that air last?

This has been a really horrible day. Between work, coming home to find one of my baby turkeys dead, my son not loading the wood stove so it was all of 60 degrees in my house & that caused the temperature of my incubator to drop, and the icing on the cake was finding out the urology dept threw out my daughter's urine instead of culturing it, so we had to go BACK up to the hospital to have that taken care of.

But now... Now I just stood there beside my incubator and actually heard a chick chirping, and saw the egg rocking back and forth... My heart is smiling right now, and I am so grateful for this one little chick who hasn't even poked its beak out of its shell yet.

 

[Impress]

They have plenty of air in there to last them, I have had them chirping in the egg for 24+ hours before they pipped and started hatching.

Now is the time to sit on your hands. My biggest advice I can give you is do not assume an egg needs help. I killed quite a few, convinced they were shrink wrapped or couldn't pip. I needed to just check the humidity and sit on my hands. My two that survived my "help" grew up deformed. It was a hard lesson to learn.

 

[rosemi78]

They have plenty of air in there to last them, I have had them chirping in the egg for 24+ hours before they pipped and started hatching.

Now is the time to sit on your hands. My biggest advice I can give you is do not assume an egg needs help. I killed quite a few, convinced they were shrink wrapped or couldn't pip. I needed to just check the humidity and sit on my hands. My two that survived my "help" grew up deformed. It was a hard lesson to learn.

I will definitely leave it be and just grin like a fool while I watch the egg rock through the veiwing window. I just wasn't sure if hearing it chirping means that it has internally pipped, or if that doesn't happen until they break through that second membrane lining the inside of the shell.

I am definitely worried about shrink wrapping because my house has ZERO humidity and I'm struggling to keep the humidity in the incubator close to 50%... I'll just have to keep a close eye on them while I sit on my hands.

 

[HappyBC]

Lol, that's the point I'm at... But I have no idea what types of chickens I have. My boss just came over one night last month and dropped off 23. I did have a turken, but I gave him to my cousin since she had a female. All my eggs I'm hatching have come from my hens and roosters. I need to do dishes when I finally break out of jail, umm work, so maybe that'll pull me away from the incubator for 15 minutes. Good luck with your hatch!!!

Thats funny because I work in a jail and I rushed home from work!
My chick has chipped a small hole and is moving around...I can even hear chirping!

 

[ChucktheChick]

one way I get humidity up is put a really hot wet rag in there! My humitity gets up to 86% sometimes! Try that!

Try this!

 

[ChucktheChick]

I am so happy for you! Be sure to add pics!

 

[rosemi78]

one way I get humidity up is put a really hot wet rag in there! My humitity gets up to 86% sometimes! Try that!

I already have two water containers in there, the bottom resevior filled with water, AND a wet rag in there. Still hovering right around 50%.

 

[bburn]

Maybe your hygrometer is not working if the temps are right and the humidity won't come up?? Just wondering....

 

[rosemi78]

Maybe your hygrometer is not working if the temps are right and the humidity won't come up?? Just wondering....

I'll go get another one and test it out.

I checked on the eggs a little bit ago. Who cares it it was 2 in the morning, right? I thought I saw a second egg moving around, but it might've been wishful thinking. I definitely could still hear some occasional chirping. Still no external pipping. How long usually before that starts happening after they internally pip??? I'm so worried...

 

[QuirkySue]

I go into Lockdown tonight... starting to freak out a little bit so I'll be on here following these threads to keep myself away from the incubator! Good luck with your hatch... I can't WAIT to hear chirps.