After 22 days in the incubator, our chicken eggs have begun to hatch. It has been SO exciting!! The first egg hatched over night. We were thrilled when we woke up that morning to find a little chick hobbling around inside the incubator! It must have been newly hatched, ’cause it was still really wet.
It was so cute once it dried up and its feathers fluffed out! Ideally you want to keep a newly hatched chick in the incubator for the first 24 hours. However, after about 16 hours we had to separate this one from the other eggs. She was hopping over to one of the other eggs that was cracked, and was pecking at the shell. I could see the little chick inside the shell moving every time the chick would peck at it, and I was afraid she might kill the other one. So, we moved her to a little box, with a warming light.
She was mostly dry, so we figured she’d be alright. Man, can this little chick make a LOT of noise!!
On day 23, two more eggs began to hatch. That was yesterday. The kids and I were fascinated as we had the chance to watch one of the chicks hatch completely from its shell.
It started like this. Just a small hole pecked in the shell.
After several hours, the hole got a little bigger.
Getting closer!
A wing is free!
Pushing with her feet. Com’mon baby!
Out pops her head!
And she’s out!! Still attached to the umbilical cord.
And here she is! Chick #2.
The other chick has not completely hatched yet. She’s still working on cracking that shell!
I was so thankful that both Titus and Jada got to watch the entire process. Both of them pulled their little chairs up to the incubator, and excitedly watched every step of the process. It was so great hearing their enthusiastic remarks. This was my first time ever watching a chick hatch, too, so I was equally thrilled!
None of the other eggs are showing any signs of cracking. I wonder if they will. Nevertheless, this first attempt at hatching out our own chicks has been very rewarding… and a great educational tool!
A city girl learning to homestead on an acre of land in the country. Wife and homeschooling mother of four. Enjoying life, and everything that has to do with self sufficient living.
How FUN and what a joy to see the egg hatch! This spring is our first egg hatching experience as well! We have a hen who has been setting on 12 eggs since Easter. We set up a surveillance camera in the coup to see her activity.You should see us sitting around watching the hen on the TV! We now have 7 baby chicks, one egg was bad, one chick didn’t make it out of the shell, and 3 have yet hatch (not sure if they will). It is so fun to see her mothering them!
We also have 12 eggs we got from a neighbor in an incubator due to hatch this weekend. We hope to see what you have just posted! So, from your pictures we know what to expect (we couldn’t see what was going on under the hen 🙂 )!
Thanks so much! Just found your blog and can’t wait to see what else you have shared and will continue to share!
Wonderful, Kendra! I hope to do this someday so my girls can get a glimpse of the complete cycle. I guess I’ll have to get a rooster!
Very cool! It’s so neat to see, I know the kids enjoyed it!
Congrats! If the chicks aren’t causing too much trouble leave them in. Supposedly the cheeping chick helps “call” the other ones and they get more motivated to hatch 🙂 Woohoo!! I want new babies! Ours are already so big!
We hatched some recently, and I even got video and posted it! My boys LOVED that… It is amazing how they peck around the whole egg then it almost pops off! I have (in our 2 times of incubating eggs) taken the babies out after about 30 minutes, because they get a bit wild and knock around all the other eggs. I haven’t eve had a problem with this, and none have died because of getting too cold. We would just put them in a small box with a heat lamp close to them (So the temp is about 95-ish under the lamp), and they have thrived very well! So don’t be afraid to take them out.
And I wish that more mother hens were “broody” and would hatch their own! That would be so much less work for us who have incubators but have to turn the eggs a few times daily! 🙂
Our eggs are due to hatch on Saturday, and I can’t wait for my three little girls to see it!
Me and my three older boys got to experience our first chick births this past weekend. It was so exciting for us too… Thanks for sharing 🙂
Fascinating! What great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
What fun!
Kendra, what INCREDIBLE PICTURES!! The children are experiencing the wonders of life from the beginning. How truly rewarding!!
This might be a really silly question… but why do chicks need to be kept in an incubator? It seems a bit unnatural? Don’t the hens sit on the eggs? Sorry if this is a very obvious silly question but I was wondering. Thanks!
Alexandra,
Looks like you missed my “Do I Need An Incubator?” post, LOL!! I think you’ll find the answer to your question there 🙂
Awesome! Oh my goodness I’m jealous! I wish my kids and I could have come over to watch too! Too bad we live states away! LOL. I’m so proud of you! Can I just say that!? =0) And again, so jealous! Enjoy you sweet babies! GO KENDRA!!!!!!!!
http://www.hopechestofwisdom.blogspot.com