Will my babies be okay?

[wvchickenhouse]

I have some baby silkies hatching this morning... got my first one about 5:30 this morning. I had to leave for work! Will they be okay by themselves doing it all on their own... I'm so worried.... this is my first hatch

 

[chicmom]

They will be fine! I just hatched out some babies on Monday, and I felt the same way....It's almost better NOT to be around.....That way, you've got work to keep you busy while those babies are hatching.....

Good luck! I hope you have a great hatch,

Sharon

 

[wvchickenhouse]

Thanks Sharon... My first one is a little black Silkie....it's darling! Looks like I have another Silkie pipping through and 1 Americauna EE. You have kept me from taking a day of vacation! LOL

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hatching is a slow process that they can usually do on their own. Interfering usually hurts a lot more than it helps. They should be fine.

Hatching is not instantaneous. The chick positions itself in the egg for internal pip. That's where it pokes through the membrane at the air sac and starts breathing air instead of living in a fluid world. Eventually it external pips, then eventually zips and hatches. When it hatches it is a helpless wet mess. They usually look pretty pitiful. But they dry off and start running around, playing rugby with the unhatched eggs.

During this process, they also absorb the yolk and dry up blood vessels inside the egg they don't need any more. They do something to get rid of that sticky goo around them so when they dry up they will be fluffy instead of having their down glued down. Some do a lot of this stufff before external pip and usually zip and complete hatching pretty quickly. Some do a lot of this between external pip and zip. These worry us because they take so long. Some may even not completely absorb the yolk before zip.

If you interfere before they do what they need to do, you can seriously harm them. If you open the incubator and let the humidity out, they can become stuck inside the eggshell and can't complete hatching. This is called shrink-wrapped. It does not happen every time you open the incubator while they are hatching, but it can happen so I advise against opening the incubator during hatch unless you have to.

Chicks can live off the yolk they absorb for three days without food and water. That's why they can be shipped through the mail. You don't need to take them out for a couple of days. I find it much better to leave them alone unless there is a specific energency you need to address.

Sounds like your hatch is going OK. Congratulations!

 

[Melissa Rose]

Sometimes it good to have other things to do because you can get some serious eye strain watching Egg Tv

Congratulations

 

[wvchickenhouse]

Great advice guys...thanks a bunch! You are right, I need something else to do so I'm staying busy at work.... oh yes... and looking at Backyard Chickens.com! LOL
This is so cool! I think everyone should experience this at least once in their life. I can't wait to show them to my granddaughter on Sunday

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[Ridgerunner]

How did it turn out? Where are the pictures?

 

[TheHalfWayCoop]

It's so hard having to leave hatching babies! BUT, you are probably so much better off being at work, then the instinct to assist is lessened which is usually a good thing

Much better to come home to fluffy butts than to watch them pip, and then wait hours and hours and hours for them to zip and pop out and then worry because of xyz after they came out of the shell

Good luck! Hope everything goes okay!!