It is HATCHING time!!!

This morning I went out to check on Lucy and Ethel and make sure they were all set for tomorrow, Monday will be 21 days of setting and should be hatching day.  Well as soon as I walked into Cluckingham Palace, I could hear baby chicks chirping!!   Oh, my heart skipped a beat I am sure.  I am so excited to see what will hatch out of  my eggs....I couldn't get her crate opened fast enough.  In true Ethel style, she screamed at me and fluffed herself up to twice her size.  After some gently petting and soothing words, she allowed me to lift her belly up to get a peak.  As loud as the chirping was, I was expecting to see at least 2-3 chicks, but to my amazement there were no chicks, just pips and the start of some zipping on several of her eggs. Wooo Hooo, it is hatching day!  

So I need to fill you in on what has been happening over the past week inside those precious eggs. On day 16 the claws, beak and scales harden more and become firm and horny, this is crucial.  The next day the chick moves a bit and positions the beak towards the air sac/cell at the end of the egg, but does not pierce it yet.  On the nineteenth day the yolk sac begins to be absorbed by the body cavity.  This gives them the hydration, nutrients and strength they need to go through the process of breaking out of the shell....this is tough work for a chick and requires a lot of energy.  On day twenty, the yolk is fully absorbed and the chick rests and gets ready for the hatching.  Sometime between day 20 and 21 the chick will break into that air sac and begin breathing the air.  It is at this point that you can hear them chirping...they are screaming to the world..."Here I come!"  

As you can see in the picture some of the chicks have broken away a bit of shell.  This is done with their egg tooth, a sharp little point (think rhino horn on a much more minuscule scale) on the beak that cracks the shell.  From there they keep pushing and it cracks some more and until a bit of shell is broken away.  They will continue this process of pushing and break shell away in a circular motion all the way around egg, this is called zipping.  Once they have zipped around the egg, they will give a few good strong kicks and bust out of the egg.  This whole process can sometimes take over 24 hours depending on the chicken.  I have also seen it happen in under an hour in my incubator.  It really depends on the chick.  They will need to rest a while and not be disturbed during this time, they need to dry and let their down fluff out before being take out from under the broody or the incubator.  This can take several hours depending on the temperature and humidity.  Currently it is just about freezing, a bit warmer in the coop and a whole lot warmer under Ethel.  I will check on them again in few hours, but I will be quick about it. 

So far the only pips I could see where with the Ethel's eggs, but Lucy's will be along soon...maybe tonight or tomorrow. 

And in other exciting news, I have eggs in the incubator inside.  Yesterday I set several eggs, some of my own barnyard mix and some Silkie and Sizzle eggs I bought on eBay and had shipped to my house. These eggs will hatch the Saturday before Easter...how fun will that be to have babies on Easter Sunday?  And if you are not familiar with a Sizzle chicken...well it is a frizzled Silkie...so the feathers will grow softly, but in all directions...think of a Swiffer duster with a lot of static!!!  Here is picture of my incubator.  I do have another shipment of Silkie and Showgirl eggs coming this week...they will go in my second incubator.  :)