WHEN WILL THEY HATCH?!?!?!

[Big Cluck]

Going a little crazy here! I have 6 eggs in the bator. I bought it used off of Craigs list. The farmer gave me the 6 eggs to test it out with. They are mixed breeds. He says the moms are Barred Rock/RI Red cross with a handsome white roo for a dad. All the eggs seem to be right on development wise. One of the eggs is HUGE, but porous. The chick in that one seems a bit small, Im new to hatching so I could be wrong. Today is day 20, I have seen all the eggs (except the huge one) move in the bator. I think I have heard some faint peeping but I cant be sure yet. No pips yet. Can any experienced hatchers out there give me a time line? Im not sure how much of this I can take!!

 

[WalnutHill]

Hard to say without pictures, but if your incubator is running a little low, it may take another day or two.

 

[Big Cluck]

It is a Styrofoam bator that has a fan. I have been pretty successful keeping the temp in the mid 99 range, though there were a few days it went above or below (never below 88 or above 101.9). I have been having trouble keeping the humidity steady, though the membranes seemed to be where they should be at lockdown. Since lockdown the humidity has been above

55, mostly 65 though sometimes as high as 70. If I peep at them at least 1 moves a bit, sometimes they jump like it startles them.

 

[Big Cluck]

And another question! One of the eggs had a small fracture and 2 cracks on one end (the large end), the membrane was intact so I just put some wax on it and hoped for the best. The little chick seems to be doing just fine in there, But will she be able to get out? Does anyone have experience with hatching repaired eggs? Do they usually require help out?

 

[lazy gardener]

It is a Styrofoam bator that has a fan. I have been pretty successful keeping the temp in the mid 99 range, though there were a few days it went above or below (never below 88 or above 101.9). I have been having trouble keeping the humidity steady, though the membranes seemed to be where they should be at lockdown. Since lockdown the humidity has been above

55, mostly 65 though sometimes as high as 70. If I peep at them at least 1 moves a bit, sometimes they jump like it startles them.

If your thermometer and hygrometer are both accurate: I'd aim for 65 - 75% humidity. Your temp seems ok.

And another question! One of the eggs had a small fracture and 2 cracks on one end (the large end), the membrane was intact so I just put some wax on it and hoped for the best. The little chick seems to be doing just fine in there, But will she be able to get out? Does anyone have experience with hatching repaired eggs? Do they usually require help out?

The egg with the fracture: Was the chick moving last time you checked? Same size as the others? Air cell same size as the others? I'd take that egg out and candle it, mark the air cell. When you candle it, leave it flat. You can put it on a towel on the counter, and then candle it. If needed, have someone help you mark the aircell.(draw a circle around the circumference of the egg at the air cell) You should see that the air cell is not exactly centered at the top of the egg. The place where it dips closer to the middle of the egg is where the chick will most likely pip. Put that side up. Now, here's the question: The wax and cracks, are they above your line? If so, it should do ok hatching on it's own. If not, you might have to help, but only when the time comes. Read Hatching Eggs 101 in the learning center, if you haven't already. Pay extra attention to the assisted hatch article. You shouldn't attempt an assist until close to 24 hours after external pip. If you have further questions, take them to the "She said he said" thread. There are a lot of experienced hatchers there every day. Good luck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are three major events during hatch, internal pip, external pip, and zip.

Internal pip is when the chick breaks into the air cell and learns to breathe air instead of living in a liquid environment. This is when you can hear internal peeping.

External pip is when the chick breaks through the outer shell so it can breathe when the air cell runs out of air.

Zip is when the chick cuts a circle around the shell so it can push its way out.

While this is going on the chick is doing a lot of other things. It’s absorbing the yolk, drying up blood vessels outside the body and absorbing that blood, doing something to that gunk it has been living in so it dries nice and fluffy instead of the down being glued to its body when it dries, and many other things including occasionally resting. Some chicks do some of these before they even start internal pip, some do a lot between internal pip and external pip, and some do a lot after external pip and before zip. On occasion some may not be totally through with all of these before zip and hatch. Even some of these really late ones make it.

There is no set timetable between these major events. Some go from one to the other pretty quickly, some seem to take forever depending on when they do these other things. Some of yours have internally pipped so they are progressing. You will probably see external pips pretty soon since it has been nine hours since your first post, but it could still be a while. I know the wait is frustrating. For me the time between external pip and zip can be even harder when you have some that are slow doing that. But your best bet is patience. I find the more I interfere the more damage I do. But some people like to micromanage the entire process and get involved in everything. Many of them normally get decent hatches too.

I’ve never hatched a repaired egg like that so I can’t speak from experience. I’d think since the chick can break through the hard shell with its beak it could handle the wax too but that may depend some on how thick the wax is and whether the wax is at external pip or zip. If it were me I’d observe and make my decision based on what I saw.

Good luck! It sounds as if things are going well.

 

[Big Cluck]

As of lock down the fractured egg was developing right along with the others, it was the same size as all of the average eggs ( we have one big guy, one little guy, and 4 that are the same). The wax covered pretty much the entire air cell area. I noticed the damage the day after they were set, idk if I didn't catch it when setting them or if it was toddler related. But I took it out and repaired it. Honestly I was surprised it developed. I have seen that egg move in the incubator since lockdown. I have now seen all of the eggs move, roll, or jump on their own. I will attempt to cable it to mark the air cell. I'll pay close attention to that guy over the next 2 days.
As for the temp and humidity. I have 2 thermometers. One is digital, it fluctuates quite a bit but has never gotten to an extreme temperature. I also have an analog dial thermometer, it fluctuates much less. Between the two, I feel like I have a pretty accurate reading. I only have 1 hydrometer. I do not know how accurate it is. I'm mostly happy with the reading it has been giving me the last few days, but there were several days before lock down where the humidity dropped into the 30s. That being said, the air cells seem to be right were they should have been development wise on days that I candled. Thank you for your help, I will retread asst hatching. Hopefully they cooperate and don't and don't attempt to hatch during my working hours

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I'd up the humidity. If your air cells were on track, you incubated relatively dry (I like 30-35% RH), then there is no risk of drowning running 70-75% humidity for hatch. I use to run 60-65% with great success but I also would let out the moisture when it peaked due to chicks hatching. But chicks hatch at night, that is an unneeded extra step if you run 70%+. What happens when lower is the moisture spike turns the album to glue if allowed to stay high and then when it drys back the late hatching chicks are stuck to shell.

Your temp is great, my eggs start to wiggle late day 19 so your thermometer may be a tad low but nothing to worry about. Just note that if they hatch day 22 then it reads low. Make a note on tape and afix to incubator to run 99.0F next hatch. Using the same equipment and a few hatches will zero you right into perfect. If majority hatch day 21 then keep the thermometer you trust and don't change a thing. But running two thermometers can drive you nuts, I recommend one thermometer and one hygrometer. You'll fine tune the thermometer with hatching and Hygrometer calibration I wrote below.

This is how I do a salt test on hygrometer:

Pour table salt into milk or juice cap. Add drops of water until saturated, pour off standing water (I use tap water).

Place hygrometer and cap with salt into a zip seal bag, sandwich or quart size is good. I allow for/make a small pillow of air.

Wait 4 hours and take your reading. A salt environment will be 75% RH. Subtract your reading from 75 for your calibration.

Write calibration on piece of tape and afix to incubator as reminder what to add or subtract from your reading for true RH.

EX: Your reading is 83%. 75-83= -8. Calibration is -8; you'll always subtract 8 from reading for true RH.

I do this test each spring at start of hatching season.

 

[Big Cluck]

There are three major events during hatch, internal pip, external pip, and zip.

Internal pip is when the chick breaks into the air cell and learns to breathe air instead of living in a liquid environment. This is when you can hear internal peeping.

External pip is when the chick breaks through the outer shell so it can breathe when the air cell runs out of air.

Zip is when the chick cuts a circle around the shell so it can push its way out.

While this is going on the chick is doing a lot of other things. It’s absorbing the yolk, drying up blood vessels outside the body and absorbing that blood, doing something to that gunk it has been living in so it dries nice and fluffy instead of the down being glued to its body when it dries, and many other things including occasionally resting. Some chicks do some of these before they even start internal pip, some do a lot between internal pip and external pip, and some do a lot after external pip and before zip. On occasion some may not be totally through with all of these before zip and hatch. Even some of these really late ones make it.

There is no set timetable between these major events. Some go from one to the other pretty quickly, some seem to take forever depending on when they do these other things. Some of yours have internally pipped so they are progressing. You will probably see external pips pretty soon since it has been nine hours since your first post, but it could still be a while. I know the wait is frustrating. For me the time between external pip and zip can be even harder when you have some that are slow doing that. But your best bet is patience. I find the more I interfere the more damage I do. But some people like to micromanage the entire process and get involved in everything. Many of them normally get decent hatches too.

I’ve never hatched a repaired egg like that so I can’t speak from experience. I’d think since the chick can break through the hard shell with its beak it could handle the wax too but that may depend some on how thick the wax is and whether the wax is at external pip or zip. If it were me I’d observe and make my decision based on what I saw.

Good luck! It sounds as if things are going well.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have had 2 human children and I don't remember waiting being this difficult! Lol! I have been trying to keep my hands off the bator except to add wet cloths when needed. The suspense. is. killing. me.!
Thank you for your support!!

 

[southernhusky]

This was a definite good read in my opinion.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching