As of 6:30 this evening, 21 of the 24 eggs have hatched successfully. The only remaining unhatched ones are the other 2 (pure) Brown Leghorn and a single brown mystery egg. The brown egg has pipped, but there’s nothing to be seen on the white ones.
It’s difficult to convey how amazing it is to watch a chick emerge, wet feathers flattened, exhausted, and in an hour or so, it’s fluffy and bright-eyed. Some of the chicks worked so hard to get out – one, in particular, was a late hatcher that was rolled around by the other hatched chicks. He or she just kept working, bit by bit, and finally was out. Joy!
We moved the first batch of chicks (16) that hatched into the brooder so the others would have more room. It was pretty crowded with all those chicks and empty eggshells, but opening the incubator while the hatch is occurring is risky due to the loss of humidity. We followed some great tips for how to restore the humidity, and it bounced right back once we closed the incubator again.
The first batch of chicks are already scratching and eating. They’re just cute little balls of fluff. It’s exciting to anticipate seeing them feather out – their coloring won’t really be apparent until then.
Fingers crossed that the last 3 are still working their way out and will join the others soon. We’ve had a bumper crop of chicks!