We have babies! Starting at 10:30 a.m., we have had a series of poultry babies hatch out in our incubator. It has been so fun for the kids and I to watch, and the little birds are adorable. As I type this, we have five poults and two chicks, plus a couple of poults zipping. We are just now entering the 28th day for the poults and 21st day for the chicks, so some of the babies have been slightly early.
(Some terminology for you: pipping is when they first break the surface of the egg, and is usually just one small poke. It can be 10 minutes to 24 hours before the bird actually comes out. Zipping describes what happens when the poult/chick breaks a ring around the egg, hopefully at the large end, starting at the pip spot. Then the top of the shell pops off, and out comes a wet, exhausted, adorable baby!)
I will have tons of fluffy pictures coming later, after I move the babies from the incubator to a brooder. For now, they are still in the incubator, as it’s important to maintain humidity throughout the hatch, if possible. If they haven’t all hatched by tomorrow morning, I will move the babies to the brooder quickly, spray warm water in the incubator, and hope the remaining eggs hatch just fine, if a little late. They are very squished in there and are playing some serious soccer with the unhatched eggs.
The following slideshow should actually be quite educational. The first series is a poult, from pip to cute, directly followed by a chick, from pip to cute. Then you get a couple of bonus shots, including one of the first poult and first chick together. Enjoy!
i love it.
Me, too. I am such a proud mama.
cute!
Sophia wants to come see them, I’m sure. and “pet” their little heads very nicely (ie, try and poke them in the face and see their distraught response).
Come on over! She will LOVE them.