We have chicks hatching in the incubator today!

[Tracy]

I've been babying these eggs for 3 weeks, and today is hatch day!

Here are some not-very-clear pictures. It is hard to get a good photo through the viewing window of the incubator.



You can just see the chick coming out of the egg beside the water bowl.



The chick is out and exhausted.



This egg is about to hatch--see the crack?




Almost all of them spent some time lying with their tummy up soon after hatching. Isn't it hysterical?



This chick is perched on the thermometer.



They are so tired after they hatch! This one still has a little shell stuck to it.



See the itty-bitty hole this chick has made?

I'm planning to hatch duck eggs next!! lol.

[RamboPreacher]

awesome - i remember when my folks did this, and we lived in the city! we rotated every couple years from chickens to ducks. always had eggs to eat and always had lots of meat.

[Susie Hamilton]

I remember watching chicks hatch when I was a kid. Cool. Don't help them out of the shell. They have to peck out of the shell themselves. Something about the pecking helps give them strength they need to live.

[jessicacook]

I learned from watching the Noggin channel with Jakob, that when the chicks start to hatch, they have this little thing on the end of their beaks called an egg tooth that allows them to peck the shell. It drops off after they hatch completely. Pretty neat!

And no, Tim.....this does NOT mean I want any chicks! LOL