Pip
Yesterday was day 19 with the eggs in the incubator, time to take them out of the automatic turner and lay them out for hatching, which happens at (usually) 20 or 21 days. Actually, day 18 is the correct day to do that, but I went stupid in my remembering (Alabama native, remember?) and left them in the turner a little longer than I should’ve because I got it in my fool head that day 19 was the right day. I don’t think it will hurt, because they were only in about 12 hours longer than they needed to be, and I think nature tends to be pretty resilient.
I also added more water to the incubator so the humidity would go up. If the humidity is off — if you’re not accurately representing the environment under a chicken’s ass — the chick can have problems. If it’s too low, the membrane around the chick can dry out, and the chick might not be able to get out of it. If humidity is too high, the chicks can drown in their shells. Generally, you’re looking for humidity around 58%-60% for the first 18 days, and about 70% for the last three.
I wish I knew how a mother hen makes her ass more humid at the end, because that seems like it would be a good thing to know how to do at parties.
While I was looking in the incubator to make sure the temperature and humidity were climbing back up after I put the lid on, I saw the coolest thing: one of the eggs moved. Just a little jiggle, really, but it moved.
Contrary to the beliefs of my wife, I had no trouble sleeping last night.
This morning when I woke up, I beelined to the incubator and found:
We have pips!
You might wish to check back periodically over the day; if anything happens with the eggs, I’ll post new updates at the bottom of the entry. It can take up to 24 hours between pip and hatch, so it’s kind of slow going.
Three things:
a) I have no plans to shoot any dogs.
b) If I did shoot one, I sure as shit wouldn’t write about it.
c) Someone very evil (who shall remain nameless) promised to be nice to me for a week if I would put up a picture of a dead dog and claim I shot it. I was all set to post this picture (WARNING: GRAPHIC) — which I found by searching Google Images for “dead beagle” — with the caption “Problem solved” and a “just kidding” WAY down the page, but Robyn stopped me because she knows when my sense of humor will be unappreciated.
And now, one for my chicks, and the Gob in all of us.
Update (8:35 am) : No update. I got Robyn to pull the vent plug out of the ‘bator, and the humidity is dropping to a more acceptable level.
This video sums up my feelings right now:
Update: (9:37 am) : Two more eggs have pipped, and when the incubator fan is off, you can hear a peep cheeping.
One of the eggs from above has progressed.
A new pip.
Update: (5:38 pm) : Nine total are pipping now. I can see something moving from time to time inside one of the first ones to start, and there’s plenty of cheeping going on.
Update: (9:02 pm) : Say hello to number one. 
I’m so excited for you: Fr3d And3rson & The Pips! Sounds like an instant hit to me. Robyn made an amazing cat midwife and I’m sure we’ll be hearing you “crow” when the chicks make their long-awaited appearance. You can bet I’ll be checking back all day!
BTW, I have to say that I absolutely LOVE how you feature all these music videos at the end of your post. The flashbacks are nice. Speaking of which, I had a HUGE flashback last night during DWTS when Def Leppard played. They were my FIRST concert, way back in 1982/83, when Joe and the Boys opened for Billy Squier. And tonight, thanks to a friend of a friend, 3 girlfriends and I (all close-to-middle-aged-Moms), are going to see Daughtry and Bon Jovi from a SUITE box at Phillips Arena. I feel like a giddy 16 yo again, rather than a 42 yo married mother of 2 young sons. SO, if you take requests, how about some OLD Def Leppard, Billy Squier, or Bon Jovi? Pretty please with a Pip on top?
“Just a little jiggle, really, but it moved.”
You so sounded like George Costanza at the masseuse.
I was telling hubby about your last entry. He said that 22’s have ammo that contain little bee-bee’s. They make your target from a tiny area to a 8″ dinner plate. Very effective when aiming for crows. They {bullets} have blue plastic tips on them. They also come in shot gun ammo too. Also, rock salt would be effective if you really wanted to shoot the dogs in the future. (shot gun) Won’t kill them but will sting like the dickens! Good luck!
Oooh, I’m so excited! Does the broody hen get up off of the eggs when they start moving, or do the chicks peck their way out from under her?
I’ll be checking back to watch the progress.
Fred becoming a chick dad or I guess it’s Granddad!
Fred, you need to set up an egg cam like Lancaster 4-H!
http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/Embryology/eggcamera.shtml
I love hatching chicks, I just don’t like raising them. My flock of 6-8 yr old hens are doing pretty well again, so we’ll slide through for a bit longer I guess.
Teri - a broody hen stays on there until they all hatch, when you reach under them to check, you’ll find the broken eggshells. They often will “hide” their chicks up underneath their wings (and sometimes will carry them like that) so you have to hunt for them.
Thanks, Farmwife! I really was wondering how that worked. Who knew hens would be so protective of their chicks?
You know…. I think you need to post fair warning when you decide to learn that next party trick.
Poor Robyn may want to start outsourcing the laundry.
I feel like we’re all in the waiting room of a hospital
AWWWWW!! The miracle of birth! Congratulations on the birth of your 1st chick.
Thanks for sharing, Fred! I’ve never seen this process before and will continue to watch with great interest.
Too cool with the pips! As I heard the camera clicking & watched the flash, all I could think was - paparazzi! Hee! Wow what fun. Happy chicks!
I started cracking up when I saw the cats in the video. Besides thinking “paparazzi” with the camera clicks and flashes, when the kitties made their appearance, the thought bubbles over their heads said, “snackin’ time again??!”
Congrats on the chick(s). Want to see the fluffy cute stage!
Thanks for the updates and the hatching video. Congrats! Now you don’t have to wait to have chicks delivered any more, or worry if some won’t arrive ok.
For us dunce city types, perhaps you could discuss sometime how long it took for you to introduce McLovin’ to the hens, before they got to the baby making phase? Did he have to go through rooster puberty for a long time?
Ok, I’ll go back to my pinko city ways now.
Laura
How neat. Thanks for making the video!
Awesome! So once they’re all out, do they continue to flop around in there for a few days until they get their legs steady, or is there a nest of some sort that you put them in? I’m so ignorant in the way of the baby chick
Love that you took a video of it - I’ll be sure to show my son tomorrow!