Chick Hatching Journal #2

Our 12 Eggs - Tans, Pinks, Blues, and Greens

Day 20

I checked on the 12 incubating eggs at 5:30pm and UNEXPECTEDLY found 4 pipped eggs! I thought I had heard some faint cheeps earlier in the day, but with Cheeper cheeping constantly nearby I thought it was her. Kids are SUPER DUPER excited!

We watched one egg wiggle around like crazy and heard some faint cheeping at 8:00pm. The pipped hole in one egg is larger and the membrane is now broken through. We can see movement through the hole.

At 9:20pm I check the eggs and - SURPRISE! - one yellow chick has hatched! It's doing well - cheeping and moving around, but oh-so-tiny! (Was Cheeper ever THAT little?!)

Taken Through the Incubator Window - Yellow Chick Minutes Old

The kids were able to watch Chick #2 - ALL black - hatch at 10:50pm! Sam says, "Mom, it's a miracle! This is the COOLEST thing ever!" I'm SO glad that they actually got to see a chick hatch! What an experience for them!

Chick #3, black, popped out at 12:10am. Chicks #1, #2 and #3 are transferred into the brooder and are doing well. Here's a video of them just minutes after going into the brooder. They're still a little damp!

Sometime between 3:30-4:30am (as I was sleeping), Chick #4, black, and Chick #5, yellow, hatched. 2 more eggs are visibly pipped. The kids rush down soon after for an update!

At 5:50am, Chick #6 pushed its way out of the shell, another black. Our Golden Retriever isn't so sure about all the LOUD cheeping! LOL Chick #4 and #5 are moved into the brooder with the others.

Chick #7 hatched at 9:00am, and once again another black! Chick #6 transferred to the brooder with his or her "siblings". And at 10:00am, Chick #8 joined us. ANOTHER black. 6 blacks and 2 yellow/blacks.  4 eggs left, 1 pipped. Wonder if the other 3 un-pipped eggs will hatch?

Day 21

We're still waiting our Chick #9. It was one of the first to pip, but has not made any progress in almost 24 hours. (It's now 3:15pm.) I started chipping around the top (without breaking the membrane covering the chick). This is what the chick would do if it could. It's cheeping weakly and moving a little. My kids know from our first hatching that weaker chicks sometimes don't make it. (The other 3 eggs were not fertile.)

But Chick #9, a black and white, is a strong one! After I cracked the shell all the way around and removed the inner membrane and slid it partially out 2 hours later, it gave one big, exhausted push to finish the process, and soon joined it's 8 buddies in the brooder!

The 3 Colors: Black (with Tan or White), Brown (with Black and White) and Yellow (with Brown)

Some of the Baby Chicks in the Brooder