my eggs are hatching!

[mamadukes5]

my first time. One chick is out of the egg, and three more have cracks in them since last night. Anybody know how long the whole hatching is likely to take? I have a set up for the chicks with heat and water and food, but I've been staring at them for three hours and wonder how long it could take. any advice would be great.

 

[The Critter Place]

Congrats!
What kind of eggs?

It can take quite awhile. I'm fairly new here, but it seems it can be a day or 2.

 

[nurse_turtle]

3 hours is only the beginning. It can take a single chick 24 or more hours to hatch and another several hours before it's okay to move it to the brooder if you choose. Some folks like the leave the chicks in the incubator until all chicks that are going to hatch, hatch. I personally move mine when they are dry and fluffy and active. Take a deep breath and time yourself so you only go check every hour if you have to. You're gonna wear a path in the floor.

 

[mamadukes5]

I swear I wasnt this nervous when my grandson was born. So I'll just keep checking every hour or so to see what else is going on. The incubator is on the porch, and my first one out of the egg is peeping and all of my chickens are lined up outside my porch door staring through the window.

 

[The Critter Place]

Quote:

Oh my gosh, I'm picturing the chickens all lined up.

It is nerve racking that's for sure. And it seems you just can't help but want to stay glued and watch.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Chickens are so nosey! Cheep entertainment.

 

[mamadukes5]

I made all the chickens go back in the pen, bribed them with grapes cuz they were making me more nervous staring at me. Now Herman, the rooster, is out there crowing like crazy, which he usually does not do. So now four eggs are cracked, the one hatchling is moving a lot, then resting, then moving a lot. She (I hope she) looks normal to my completely untrained eye, and I'm going to lose my mind waiting.

 

[mamadukes5]

so now another egg has a crack in the shell, that makes four that are maybe gonna hatch. The one that hatched this morning looks pretty much dried off and is starting to fluff, but everytime I go out there, she tries to crawl across the incubator to where my hand is. Don't laugh, she looks lonely to me. Is she ok out there by herself waiting for the rest to hatch if they're going to? And if she's the only one that makes it out of the egg, how do I keep one small chick all alone? I'm probably making way too much of this, but it's my first time and I'm stupid with nervousness.

 

[The Critter Place]

What do you mean to where your hand is?

Your not opening the incubator and putting your hand in it are you?

It needs to stay closed, so the ones that still need to hatch have humidity. The one little chick will be O.K. for awhile by its self.

Your not the only one around here worried/nervous about them hatching. I think just about everyone here has gone through it. ;-)

 

[mamadukes5]

no, there's glass windows in the top, and I was pointing at the new egg with a crack in it to show my husband what I was talking about. I've been going out there every 30 minutes or so, and the chick seems to wake up and walk around while I'm out there, basically, with my darn nose pressed to the glass. I'm becoming obsessed. I won't open it, and I will keep waiting for the others to do what they're going to do.