The suspense is killing me

[MontanaChickDoc]

Well I set them at around 7pm Wed the 4th so I guess technically 21 days is still a few hours away and the temps have been on the cooler side in the incubator - 99.5 or so. So they could be a little behind. I have a digital thermometer/ hygrometer but I've never calibrated it. I'll have to google how to do that

 

[oregonkat]

I have a digital thermometer/ hygrometer but I've never calibrated it. I'll have to google how to do that

Very, very important. This is, actually, why you are so stressed right now. You really don't know what the temp or the humidity has actually been through your incubation. The instruments on the incubators are notoriously wrong so it is super important to calibrate independent instruments, and do it yourself so you know exactly what is going on. Use a medical grade thermometer if possible to compare your digital one to and do the salt slurry test for your hygrometer. Not difficult but essential.

If you saw an egg rocking, hatch time is close. The chicks are getting into position for hatching. This process of pip to zip may take hours, many more hours, days to several days. Good luck, keep posting please.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Nothing yet but did a super quick candling on a handful and saw 3 with drawn down air cells and internal pips and several more with movement. I think my temps were definitely too cool. Hopefully they will still hatch, just late.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I woke up at 4am and checked on the eggs. 2 pips and peeping/ chirping so I am cautiously optimistic that things will progress, just a day late. One of the pips is in one of my Americauna x Marans eggs that I am hoping to create some olive eggers out of. The first pip was kind of central in the side of the egg, but just before I left for work there was a second, larger pip closer to the air cell end so maybe she just missed the first time

 

[ronott1]

I woke up at 4am and checked on the eggs. 2 pips and peeping/ chirping so I am cautiously optimistic that things will progress, just a day late. One of the pips is in one of my Americauna x Marans eggs that I am hoping to create some olive eggers out of. The first pip was kind of central in the side of the egg, but just before I left for work there was a second, larger pip closer to the air cell end so maybe she just missed the first time

let me see what day they were supposed to hatch. It is easy to get confused with set days.

Ok, I see that you set them at 7pm. You move ahead a day when you do that and calculate the day from there. For you, use the 5th as set day. They are right on time!

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Ah! thank you for setting me straight! It's so easy to get confused. At least, for me I am so excited to see what is happening when I get home tonight. My daughter texted me a picture that egg #1 has enlarged her pip quite a bit. Go little chick!!

 

[ronott1]

Ah! thank you for setting me straight! It's so easy to get confused. At least, for me I am so excited to see what is happening when I get home tonight. My daughter texted me a picture that egg #1 has enlarged her pip quite a bit. Go little chick!!

That is good news! Zipping should start soon

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

When I got home I had one hatched. I went outside for a bit and came back to two hatched. Three more in the night, and two more this morning! One more zipping, and 7 more pipping. They are taking their time but getting the job done

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

The only problem is the peeping kept me up all night (the incubator is in my bathroom)! But peeping is a good thing Just not for sleep.

 

[jwcarlson]

Very cool. I'm incubating for the first time and "lockdown" on Monday after work. My first set I put in 8 eggs. Five remain, two stopped along the way and one wasn't fertile. I had gobs of issues. I'm a beekeeper and I rear queen bees so I have an incubator for my queen cells. That incubator just flat-out died (after serving faithfully for about three years). I turn them for the last time of the day at midnight. Went to do that 4-5 days into incubation and find the temps in my incubator down to 86 or so. So I went scrambling. Thankfully I had some digital temperature controllers that I use for liquefying honey so I set up a lightbulb and they set in our MICROWAVE for about 24 hours before I could get something else set up. Then I dropped one of those forehead scanning thermometers and it hit one of the eggs. So I melted beeswax over the cracks (nothing leaked). That one was still moving as of yesterday (after recracking slightly and then rewaxing a couple days ago).

But I got another dozen eggs from my friend who'd given me the first eight and after 6 days all 12 were developing.

If any of these first eight have survived my ignorance and misfortune it will be lucky indeed.
Awesome to see your success!