The eggs in the incubator apparently decided to play an April Fools’ Day prank on us and hatch a day late (day 22). Ok, the joke’s on us…but they did finally begin hatching this morning. One little guy (or gal) went from zipped to hatched in about 15 minutes, then laid, exhausted, in the shell afterward, like a pearl resting in a pried-open oyster shell.
10 AM: it’s about an hour later, and another chick is out. Both have the chipmunk stripes from the Leghorn influence. Several other eggs have externally pipped or progressed to zipping now.
1 PM: five chicks are out. All are lively and either dry or drying nicely.
5 PM: eight chicks are out and dry. We moved them to the brooder and removed the empty shells, since the shells sometimes stick to the hatching eggs. We refilled the water channels and sprayed warm water to bring up the humidity. 8 more to go.
8 PM: one more chick is out. We expect the remainder should continue hatching overnight and, hopefully, we’ll be greeted by another group of cheepers in the morning.