Should I be seeing movement?

[agm419]

Hi! I'm sure this has been asked before, but my search didn't pull up anything useful so I thought I'd just start a new thread I'm brand spankin new to incubating eggs and we are in day 21. I candled on day 18 and all looked well in the eggs. But I have yet to see any rocking or movement in the eggs (and no piping yet). I know the piping and hatching can vary by a day or two, but it seems like everything I've read says people start seeing the eggs moving a little a few days before hatch. The temp has been a perfect 99.5-100 in a brinsea eco mini and the humidity looks good (the hydrometer isn't working so we are winging it at this point with the humidity). Am I just obsessing over nothing, or should we be seeing movement by now?

 

[song of joy]

This is my first year using an incubator, and I was also concerned about the lack of "egg rocking" that everyone seems to be talking about. One egg moved a couple of times, but for the most part, there was very little action until the chicks starting zipping.

Keep an eye out for pips. It's usually 12-24 hours from pip to hatch.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

That movement is when the chicks turn in the shell prior to starting to pip. Some years I see a lot and others not so much. Could very well be they moved overnight. They get into position then internally pip, rest for awhile then start the shell pip and zipping.

All you can do is sit on your hands and give them time. It's nerve wracking.