WOOT! - Now is the time! (day 19) Newbie (need some love)

Morning Y'all. Just started day 19 a little skiddish = this is my first hatch EVER and I'm nervous as all get-up. I didn't know what I was doing when I started but I've been reading the entire forum over the last three weeks and bought three books and darn-it I'm ready! (but still nervous) :|

I got 15 RIR eggs from up the road (from a very reputable source) so I have no reason to doubt quality eggs. For sake of argument, any chix that don't hatch were either non-fertile or mishandled on my part.

Based on candling I expected:

DAY 7: 10 "solids" (with correct air void size), three "scrambled" (it looks like the bird died early on), one uniformly "murky/spotty" egg (it just LOOKS bad), and one unfertilized "grocer" (it looks like a food-grade egg when candled).

Day 14: results were the same but I could no longer see anything thru the dark egg shell.. is this normal? Even at day 7 most of the "solids" were very dark and heavy. Is it possible that my chix started early and I missed the early stages by candling a couple days too late? I had hoped that was the case and that my "solids" were merely developed further than I had anticipated.

Well, at day 18 (last night) I the day 18 thang I added more water and stopped turning etc... I candled one last time and all the eggs were consistent with day 14 results. I talked to each of the eggs as I candled them. I did only a short candle, but wanted to make sure I didn't have any "exploding eggs" over the weekend.

ANYHOW..... just about 10 hours later two of the eggs have small openings. That's right, I'm talkin bout pippin' (I think). I slept in (just woke up) and put the flashlight in the bator and YUP - small chips out of the egg.. WOOT!

GIVE ME SOME LOVE FOLKS. How bout a couple of those guys with the fingers crossed and a couple WOOTS to cheer my little guys on.

I LOVE THIS FORUM. I'm going to be posting a lot over the next 12 weeks

- Herman

 

Yeah thanks... I needed that.

 

12 hours later - I have 4 eggs pipping and I heard a chirp just a minute ago. I nearly fainted! ha.

How long does a chick take from pip to hatch? I know some chicks are slower than others but when do I get nervous? (YES - I'm an anxious person!)

Oh yeah, it is funny to finally literally apply "don't count your chickens before they hatch." As an engineer I'm cautiously optimistic. And trying hard to stay that way :| :|

C'MON LITTLE CHIX.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm hoping I have pics to show!