Chickeesmom...

I heard my first chirp!!! Then I looked and there was TWO pip's. BOth are from your JG's. I am so excited now. Just what I needed today. Thank you.

Excellent! My Jersey Giants from Chickee's mom are doing great, my six year old likes the fact they are "giant" chickens and can't wait to see how big they get

I have four now, but the first two has been an hour and a half ago. Shouldnt they have done something other then just crack open the shell? Shouldnt they have started to zip? I still hear chirping coming from them. I am too nervous. Is something going wrong?

OOhh please post pics!! im waiting oh so patiently for my jersey giants to hatch from her!! they go into lockdown this fri!!

They can take up to 24hrs. from Pip to Zip - it killed me to wait for the first one to zip...nose to incubator, walk away, 1min later nose to incubator...
What I have learned from my first hatch: Patience is a virtue

Ugh!!! This sucks. Another whole day?!?!?! Hubby will never let me hatch eggs again. I made him put the baby (9 months) down for her nap and make out other one her lunch. I have been sitting in a chairright next to the incubator. He said I have to stop wipping off the windows to see in or I will wipe them away (nose prints).

OK OK OK... I know, I am paranoid. There has been no progress. I reached in and touched one and the membrane is hard. Not rubbery, not slimy, not soft. Hard. Like the crust of bread. What now?

I can not wait till i get mine, my first peafowl egg today and another 7 Silkies

What is your humidity at? Sounds like there is not enough. Your chicks could shrink wrap without enough moisture in the bator. I had my humidity around 60% for the last 3 days/hatching. Do you have another Hygrometer (something to measure humidity) in case the one you have isn't reading properly? Keep us posted.

I knew that the humidity was low. It was at 47%. Filling every tray in it only put it up to that 47%. I tried all day Sunday different things to get it up. Well, I couldnt, so yesterday I was heading into town to pick some sponges to try that, well, my bro called and I had to run to the hospital to pick up my nieces and neiphews cause they were having their baby. So I had them til this morning, so I ran in to get them this morning and came home and they were hacthing. It is only four that pipped. The others havent yet. I do have the humidity up to 71% now. It took three big sponges to get it up to that. I am hoping only these first four will have issues. I hope the others are going to be ok when they start to hatch if they arent dead yet, I havent had the guts to check.

I'm sure they'll be fine - you did good pfarms!! It is so nerve racking isn't it...I wonder if it gets better with each hatch? Probably not

if the humidity is very low and you are having trouble bringing it back up, you can try misting everywere in the bator with warm water. if the chicks dont make any progress after 24 hours i would help them slowly. sounds like they are dry and can turn in the eggs to zip or finish there hatch! congrats on the baby chickies!! pics! pics! pics!

As soon as I have one that is acctually hatched and dry I will post them. I put a touch of water on the membrane where it was so dry. It was stuck to them. Hard an instead of peeling off it wouldnt bugde. So, now they are moist again and I am hoping to have them out soon.

Your chicks were shrink wrapped as we suspected. Misting is the best idea - you can also wrap a piece of moist paper towel over the egg but be sure to leave the airhole they have created unobstructed/open. As far as helping them - there are so many things a chick needs to do before hatching for example: absorb the yolk and gain strength. Helping them can also infect or cripple them. I totally understand the need to help but, I also understand the reasons not to. If you must help them slow, slow, slow is the key - let them do most of the work.

Any chicks overnight? I woke up to an incubator full of chicks one morning - it's magical