Quite new to chickens, indeed.

[drumstick diva]

Darling chicks hope you will post photos again when they are fluffy and active. Welcome to Backyard chickens

 

[Zinjifrah]

Thank you for the welcomes! Fourth chick hatched with one tiny bit of help - it got its foot stuck out through the crack in the egg, and didn't have any leverage, so I helped with a push a little and it popped right out, healthy and active. Here's a post-hatching photo - looks black, dried chocolate! Black legs and beak lightened up FAST.

The last two eggs never pipped, and I left them until this morning to check. Both were fully developed to the point of having feathers and an egg tooth, but one of them had ruptured its yolk sack, and the other never absorbed it at all. Neither had even made an internal pip before they died in the egg. Sad! They both were multicolor, going by the feathers, with distinct streaks of dark and light. I didn't take any photos of the corpses, but I was very careful opening the eggs, in case there might be a live chick inside. Unfortunately, it was far too late for that even when the rest hatched, I suspect.

However, I can resolve - personally, at least! - one small confusion I had! I found many sites that say Serama hatch on day 21, and many that said they hatch on day 19. My four all hatched strong and healthy, precisely on day 19.