Pipping- what day?

[nccatnip]

After I finally got the eggs in the bator I realized there is TONS I do not know............ At what day do you hear pipping? And is pipping chirping while in the shell?
If the hatch is successful, when I place the kids in the brooder, I think I remember they need to be on cardboard flooring for a few days, can they then go in pine shavings? I seem to remember someone running into trouble as the chicks ate the shavings???????
I did hatch out some game birds earlier in the year but chicks may a bit different.

 

[speckledhen]

Pipping is when they crack the shell. You can sometimes hear peeping even before they pip, though. What I do in the brooder is put down a thin layer of pine shavings then layer some paper towels or shop towels on top of that and change them as necessary for couple of days. Then you can remove them. Yes, they'll eat some shavings, but not many.