Pre-hatch Jitters: I wanna know....

[n8ivetxn]

What day, prior to hatch, do chicks start peeping?

What day do they start rocking and rolling?

If eggs roll over after pipping, do you turn them back to pip side up?

Sunday is day 18, lockdown... I'm nervous that I won't have many hatch and excited too

 

[CoturnixCurt]

I'm fairly new to hatching and incubating as well. But I have found that it is best to try not to watch and wait on them to hatch lol. The the more time I spend watching and checking on them, the more I want to open the lid and intervene. I like when there are maybe a few pipped when I leave for work and an incubator full of chicks when I get home. Also if you don't have a great hatch don't get discouraged. I had 2 unsuccessful incubations until I ever got my first chick to hatch.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Yeah, the problem is, I'm at home all the time... I'm not really tempted to open the lid, I can see everything going on in there, but I'm just curious about when I might hear some cheeping ..... The eggs I have in there are not cheap, and I'm not expecting a great hatch, but it sure would be nice to get something out of this.... I have sheep that will be lambing around the same time, so I thought if I knew when the chicks might start cheeping, I'd remain on stand-by, in the house, in case one needs help.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Lol. You don't always hear peeping from inside the shells, but if your temps were accurate and they start internally pipping on time I would say anywhere between day 19-21.

I am glued to my bator during hatch and I honestly don't see my eggs moving until they pip or zip usually.

I flip my pippers over if they get rolled. Many people believe eggs getting rolled and chicks playing ball with their unhatched siblings isn't a big deal. I like to have all pippers up where I can see them. Until this bloody Guinea hatch I did for my nephew, I could honestly say I had never lost a pipper. If they made it to pip, they made it out one way or another. I had to take my father to a dr appointment about 45 minutes out of town and because they hatched early, it fell on that day. I had 4 hatched and in the brooder and 2 that literally came out as I was getting ready to leave. I also had two alert pipped chicks in there as well. I left the 2 in the bator that just hatched. By the time we got back we had been gone close to 4 hours. First thing I did was come up to check the eggs. One of my pippers had been rolled completely over. Pip down. I rolled it back up but it was gone. First time I had a pipper die in the shell. Now, it could be coincidence, but I swear if I had been here meddling in my normal ways, I would not have lost that chick. So In my mind, them being rolled all around by their siblings may not compromise them, but I'm not taking that chance. My chicks go to the brooder and I keep pippers flipped up.

 

[n8ivetxn]

Lol. You don't always hear peeping from inside the shells, but if your temps were accurate and they start internally pipping on time I would say anywhere between day 19-21.

I am glued to my bator during hatch and I honestly don't see my eggs moving until they pip or zip usually.

LOL, this is stressful! Yes, I'll be camped out on the living room floor, staring at that box! - And listening!

I flip my pippers over if they get rolled. Many people believe eggs getting rolled and chicks playing ball with their unhatched siblings isn't a big deal. I like to have all pippers up where I can see them. Until this bloody Guinea hatch I did for my nephew, I could honestly say I had never lost a pipper. If they made it to pip, they made it out one way or another. I had to take my father to a dr appointment about 45 minutes out of town and because they hatched early, it fell on that day. I had 4 hatched and in the brooder and 2 that literally came out as I was getting ready to leave. I also had two alert pipped chicks in there as well. I left the 2 in the bator that just hatched. By the time we got back we had been gone close to 4 hours. First thing I did was come up to check the eggs. One of my pippers had been rolled completely over. Pip down. I rolled it back up but it was gone. First time I had a pipper die in the shell. Now, it could be coincidence, but I swear if I had been here meddling in my normal ways, I would not have lost that chick. So In my mind, them being rolled all around by their siblings may not compromise them, but I'm not taking that chance. My chicks go to the brooder and I keep pippers flipped up.

Ok, I'll try to keep an eye on any pips I see.... I read about the guinea hatch on another thread, I'm sorry you lost that little one

....... I need to get a brooder set up, I think I'll just put it in the mud room.

When pippers get rolled over, do you think they suffocate due to lack of oxygen, or do they drown in residual moisture? - I know they're positioned to come out a certain way and then that gets messed up, but I don't understand the cause of death...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

LOL, this is stressful! Yes, I'll be camped out on the living room floor, staring at that box! - And listening!



Ok, I'll try to keep an eye on any pips I see.... I read about the guinea hatch on another thread, I'm sorry you lost that little one :/ ....... I need to get a brooder set up, I think I'll just put it in the mud room.

When pippers get rolled over, do you think they suffocate due to lack of oxygen, or do they drown in residual moisture? - I know they're positioned to come out a certain way and then that gets messed up, but I don't understand the cause of death...

I am not sure. With the wire bottom, you wouldn't think it's suffocation. I do know others I've seen this happen to the pip site would glue down to the floor and that points to extra fluid being the cause, but I didn't have extra fluid. The thing I noticed was when I left it's beak was at the pip. The pip was a good enough size I could see it moving in there. When I came back it's position had shifted, almost like the wing had come up to cover the pip hole. Maybe it cut off air flow.