The Great Eggscape

The Great Eggscape

January 2, 2022

(A chick making the Great Eggscape!)

Ever since starting to raise chickens, I had in the back of my head to try hatching eggs one day. And so I decided to do so over Christmas break! Unfortunately, Angelica isn't the best broody hen (she will sit on her eggs for a few days, then abandon them forever!). Fortunately, we were able to borrow a Brinsea incubator from a friend and so I got started!

The plan was originally to hatch the chicks on Christmas day (cool right?), however, we got the incubator a little too late to set them for Christmas, so we eventually set them for December 28th, my grandpa's birthday! 

Since Lafayette kindly provided us with some fertile eggs, we decided to use those for hatching! How exciting it will be to have mixed breed chicks! 

If you are hatching with a Brinsea incubator, or are just starting out your journey of hatching eggs, Brinsea's Incubation Handbook is a great place for info!

As soon as I collected the fertile eggs, I set them at room temperature. If any of the eggs are soiled, I would want to remove as much of the dirt as possible carefully with a fingernail or rough cloth. You don't want to wash hatching eggs with water. The will remove the bloom which regulates the inflow and outflow of air through the pores in the shell and also protects the embryo from bacteria on the shell.

Next I need to look over egg to be sure there aren't any hairline cracks. The eggs all look perfect.

Had I seen any cracks, I have a container of beeswax that I can use to 'seal' small cracks to keep bacteria and excess air out of the egg.

If you plan on hatching on a regular basis, investing in a Brinsea OvaScope Egg Candler will make the job easier. It has a sturdy base that you set the egg on, so there's less chance of dropping it. Take it from me, I love using the Brinsea candler!

As I collected each egg, I numbered the date they were laid on the shell with a pencil and put them pointy end down into a clean egg carton at a 45% angle to let them come up to room temperature. 

By marking one side of each egg, I'll be able to keep track of the turning of the eggs, which is a very critical step in hatching.

The Brinsea Mini II Advance incubator is plugged in and heating up to 99.5 degrees. There are a few types of incubators, so be sure to read the instruction manual for your particular type.

The Mini II Advance tracks the day of incubation, as well as heat, and turns my eggs for me. However, it does not keep track of humidity.

When the eggs are first added to the incubator, the temperature will go down, but within a short time should rise back to 99.5, if that temperature had been maintained for several hours prior to putting the eggs in. 

The Mini II Advance is completely automated and really easy to program. It has default setting that you can choose to override if you wish for the temp, Fahrenheit or Celsius, # of days, etc.

In addition to the incubator, I have my egg candler nearby so I can continue to candle the eggs throughout the hatch, also a thermometer for measuring humidity, and a calendar with the 21 days of incubation marked.

I also have cups of water to add to the reservoirs to help maintain the proper humidity levels. You want the humidity level to stay between 40-50% for the first 18 days, and then increase it to 65-85% during "lockdown" which is the last three days of the incubation period, so the membranes don't try and "shrinkwrap" the hatching chicks. Basically you want to fill one of the inside reservoirs up to the divider line for the first 18 days, then right before lockdown, you want to fill all 3 up to the divider line.

Until the eggs are warmed, they won't start developing.  It is recommended to let the eggs sit out for a few hours (up to 24 hours) to allow them to come to room temperature before putting them in the incubator.

The Mini II Advance only holds seven eggs and has a turner tray so that's where I placed the eggs. If you have more eggs than that, you can put them in without the turner tray, but you'll have to manually turn the eggs 3 times a day.

It is very important to wash your hands well before handing the eggs, especially if you are coming straight from interacting with the rest of your flock. 

Disease and bacteria can easily be transmitted to the embryos through the pores in the shells, so always wash your hands after coming back in the house and then again before opening the incubator. 

Handling the eggs gently is also important obviously. If an egg does crack by accident, all is not lost. I small minor crack that hasn't broken the membrane can sometimes successfully be repaired and the chick will subsequently hatch. 

A thin layer of water soluble white glue, candle wax or even correction tape applied over the crack is recommended. Try to cover only the barest minimum of shell surface you have to when repairing the crack.

Day 0:

Okay, the eggs are in the incubator!  The temperature dropped a bit right after I put them in, but gradually climbed back to 99.5. Yay!

On the very first day of incubation, a line called the primitive streak appears.  From these cells, the organs of the chick's body will begin to form.   By the end of the first day, the head, eyes and nervous system have already started to form, as has the vertebral column.

Day 1:

The temperate in the incubator should stay between 99.3 - 99.6° for an optimal hatch. The acceptable range is 97° to 102°F.  Below 96° or above 103°F and the embryos can die. However, overheating is far worse than under-heating.

A temperature in the incubator over 103°F for just 15 minutes will seriously impact the embryos and most likely will kill them, while the temperature dropping down to 95°F for 3-4 hours will merely slow down the chicks' growth rate.

Day 2:

The eggs made it through their first night just fine.  Today the heart is being formed and will be beating after the eggs have been in the incubator for approximately 42-44 hours.

I'm so glad my incubator turns the eggs for me! (I would forget otherwise!) The turning is important throughout the hatch because the yolk tends to float upwards to rest at the top.  

The embryo, which rests on top of the yolk, possibly because nature has made it so the embryo is in the best position to receive body heat from the mother hen, is therefore squeezed between the yolk and the shell where it can be damaged, or even killed, and also can stick to the shell membrane.  

By turning the egg, the embryo is swept back into the white, where there are fresh nutrients that help the chick develop.  The turning is most important during the first week before the chicks' circulation system is developed, but must be continued for the first 18 days of incubation.

I also checked the water reservoir.  The water is important because eggshells are so porous and low humidity levels in the incubator can lead to dry membranes/shells that trap chicks inside, as well as smaller birth rates.

Day 3:

The eggs are still percolating along at a constant 99.5 degrees.  The heart in each viable egg is functioning by now, but not fully formed yet, and is actually outside the body.  More blood vessels are being formed and should be visible when I candle the eggs tomorrow. The legs and wings begin to form.

The incubator is turning the eggs religiously every 45 minutes. A hen sitting on eggs will slightly shift her weight about every half hour, causing the eggs to shift. 

Throughout the day, she will turn the eggs with her beak and also rotate the outside eggs to the center periodically.  

If you are turning the eggs manually, regardless of the number of times during the day you turn the eggs, it should always be an odd number so the embryo alternates which side of the egg it spends the night on. 

Day 4:

Today the amniotic sac has formed and the embryo is now floating in the amniotic fluid.  The tongue is beginning to form.

Here are the breeds we are hatching:

-3 French Orpingtons (mix of French Maran and Buff Orpington)

-2 Rhode Island Marans (mix of French Maran and Rhode Island Red)

I'm so excited to be creating a whole new breed!

It is important to candle the eggs - generally Day 7, Day 14 and Day 18 just before the 'lockdown' and discard any that aren't developing because a 'bad' egg can explode and contaminate the other eggs with bacteria.  

A sitting hen instinctively knows which eggs are not going to hatch and will literally toss them out of the nest, so no candling is necessary when your are hatching your eggs 'au naturale'.

Day 5:

Just so y'all know, in general, hatching eggs will still be fine if they are cooled even for a couple of hours, they might just hatch a day late.

Today the legs and wings will continue to develop and the major organs would be visible in candled eggs. The reproductive organs are beginning to form and the aortic structure is developing.

I've also been playing classical music in the 'nursery'. Remember last year's experiment with the hatchery chicks? ;)

Day 6:

The heart and eyes are developing, along with the beak. The wings and legs of each embryo are almost complete and the larger organs are beginning to develop. 

As the embryos continue to develop and grow, the air space in the egg begins to get larger and the egg actually loses weight.  Watching the changes in the air cell during candling is another way to determine whether the chick is developing.  

Day 7:

Today was the first day of candling! Here are some pics, see if you can make out the embryos and their veins!-

The reproductive system has formed in each chick but it's impossible to find out the gender of the embryos, so we'll have to wait for quite awhile to find out if we have hens or roosters.

Day 8:

The eggs have completed their first trimester!  Their feet, toes and wings have developed and feathers are starting to form. The heart is still outside the body but by tomorrow will have moved inside. The skull is encasing the brain and the beak will soon begin to grow.

Did you know that chickens and ducks differ greatly from birds of prey and parrots as far as how they are born?  Chickens and ducks hatch with their eyes open and covered in down. They leave the nest within a few days and will start foraging for food within several hours.  

Birds of prey on the other hand are hatched with their eyes closed and little to no down. They are incapable of leaving the nest and have to be fed by their parents.  

It is amazing how God designed chickens to be self-sufficient so early on. I find it interesting how helpless hawks and other raptors are, but ultimately the chickens become the prey and the hawks the predators.

Day 9:

On the outside, the eggs look exactly the same as they did the day I put them in the incubator, but if we could see inside, the changes taking place are nothing short of miraculous! In just 9 short days, the embryos already are starting to look like chicks.  

The heart is now within the body and circulating blood via an umbilical cord.  The eyes have formed.  There are feathers growing on the wings and the feet and individual toes are formed.  Soon bones will begin to form, as will the beak.  The air sac is continuing to grow in size.  

The hatch rate of fertile eggs set under a chicken (au naturale, if you will) nears 100%.  Using an incubator (artificial hatch) drops the average hatch rate down to 75-85% and using shipped fertile eggs (versus eggs your own chickens lay or local hatching eggs) drops the hatch rate down closer to 45-50%. 

But careful handling, proper storage, and turning the eggs, as well as good quality breeding stock can push the number of eggs that do successfully hatch a bit higher.  Our fingers are crossed for a great hatch!

Fertile eggs will not hatch if left out on your kitchen counter despite what you might read or hear.  A temperature nearing 100 degree must be maintained for the eggs to even begin to develop.

Eggs from an older hen have a lesser chance of hatching, but the chicks that do hatch will generally be stronger, healthier and more disease-resistant than those chicks that hatch from eggs laid by younger hens.

Day 10:

I think the waiting is the hardest part! I check on the eggs many times a day, making sure the temperature is right (which it always is thanks to the Brinsea Mini II Advance incubator!) and the one reservoir is still filled with water.

Today the bones are being formed and the beak is starting to harden.  All of the eggs should have sort of a dark 'blob' in them, with an air sac at the blunt end. As the chick grows, the dark part should continue to get larger, as should the air sac.  

The yolk will eventually be absorbed by the growing chick and is what sustains it during its first hours of life.

Did you know that an egg contains all the nutrients necessary for life except for Vitamin C? Chickens don't need Vitamin C to sustain life.

Day 11:

Amazing things are still happening inside the eggs!

A dark 'blob' should be visible in each egg, with a clear section that is the remaining egg white. There is an ever-expanding air sac at the blunt end of each egg, and veining is visible in those with the lighter shells.  

I do know that any eggs that start to leak need to be removed immediately since they can introduce bacteria into the incubator that could kill the other developing chicks. A blood 'ring' is also a bad sign, clearly visible during candling, that indicates bacteria has entered the egg through the shell.

Day 12:

There is down growing from the feather follicles now. I'm so glad that chicks are covered with down when they hatch...it just wouldn't seem right if they hatched fully feathered!

Day 13:

If we were to break open the eggs today (which we won't!) we would be able to tell what color each chick will be.  The down would be clearly visible and colored.  The skeleton is also beginning to harden and calcify and the claws (or toenails) appear.

Day 14:

It's candling day 2! Each egg has a nicely developing air sac, and I can see the embryo floating around inside the shell! There is obvious veining visible also. The chick is practically formed, even the toenails have formed!

And it actually looks like a chick inside!  The chick is rotated now so that its head is at the blunt end of the egg near the air sac, which is the position it needs to be in in order to break out of the shell.

Day 15:

Today, the chick's skull, beak, claws and scales on the legs all begin to become much firmer and the 'egg tooth', which will be used to break out of the shell, hardens. We are a week away from the hatch date!

Day 16:

Honestly...the waiting is KILLING me! 

The beak, leg scales and claws are almost completely formed.  The growing chick has used up the egg white as a food supply and will soon be starting on the yolk.  

Day 17:

Today the neck and chest muscles will continue to develop and strengthen in order to help the chick have the ability to break out of the shell. The embryo has turned its beak towards the air cell...we're getting close now. It's amazing how on the outside, nothing is going on, but inside, the daily changes are amazing!

I will do one final candling tomorrow before lockdown. It will be pretty crowded in the incubator if all the eggs do hatch (I can only hope!) so I will have the brooder box ready and warmed and start moving the chicks into that as soon as they have dried off. 

Day 18:

Today, right before lockdown, I candled the eggs one last time. It looked like two eggs never developed, so I tossed those two out, leaving five eggs in the incubator. When I was candling the biggest egg, I turned on some classical music, and the chick started kicking!

I also filled all three reservoirs with water, and replaced the turning tray with some fabric so the chicks have something to grip when they hatch instead of a slippery plastic surface.  The eggs got pats on the head and then were gently placed large end up back into the incubator for lockdown.

Day 19:

LOCKDOWN!!!

♪♫♪Antiiiicipaaation....anticipaaaaation is making me wait....♪♫♪

From this point on, the egg shouldn't be moved because the chick will have to reorient itself and that can weaken the chick to the point it won't have the energy to break out of the shell. The next time I open the incubator it will (hopefully) be to take five new baby chicks out!  

All three reservoirs are filled with water to increase the humidity in the incubator. The correct humidity level is important to keep the egg membrane soft enough for the hatching chicks to easily break through. 

The water guard is in place so the chicks won't drown once they hatch. 

The yolk is now being absorbed into the chick's body. This is what will keep the chick nourished until it hatches.  The carbon dioxide levels within the shell have begun to increase, which causes the chick's neck muscles to start twitching. The stress of this will actually kill any chicks that aren't strong enough.  

If a chick doesn't have sufficient Vitamin B or enough strength, it won't make it past this stage.  

Assuming that isn't the case and all the chicks will be nice strong little ones, the chick inside each egg is preparing to hatch.  It will assume the 'hatch position' in which it turns its head towards the blunt end of the egg and tucks its head under its right wing.  

It will curl its feet up towards its head and gets its beak positioned to break through the air cell at the blunt end of the egg.

The chick will open its beak for the first time and its lungs will inflate, causing blood to start circulating. The embryo now takes up most of the interior space inside the shell.

Day 20:

Sometimes peeping can be heard from inside the shells! Especially when there is classical music playing...***wink wink***.

There is a bit of condensation around the edges of the incubator, so that means the humidity level is higher, which is good because it keeps the membrane soft, easier for the chick to break through and won't stick to the chick.

The yolk has been completely absorbed into the chick's body and today the chick will break through the membrane and begin to breathe the air in the air sac.

As the air in the sac gets used up, the chick will start to break a hole in the eggshell with its egg tooth to let in outside air. (The egg tooth will fall off soon after the chick hatches.) This is referred to as 'pipping' and should begin tomorrow on Day 21. However...3 of the eggs have already started pipping a day early!!! How exciting! Two Buff eggs and one Rhode Island Red egg have begun their Great Eggscape! (***The classical music clearly did a little something...wink wink!***)

I have the brooder set up and ready to go!

Day 21:

The chick uses its egg tooth to break a hole in the eggshell, letting in air, and then will continue to chip around the top of the shell in a circular pattern, stopping to rest periodically. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours.

When the chick makes it way all the way around, the top of the egg will pop off and the chick will push the rest of the shell off with its legs. Wet and exhausted, the chick will then often lay down, close its eyes and rest for an hour or more.

They should stay in the incubator to rest and dry off completely - at least several hours and up to 24 hours. They don't need to eat or drink for at least 48 hours, so the best place for them is in the incubator until they are fully dry and starting to become active. Then it's off to the heated brooder!

One Buff egg hatched in the morning, another Buff egg and a Rhode Island Red egg hatched in the afternoon, the last Rhode Island Red egg hatched in the evening, and the last Buff egg hatched the next morning. 

The brooder is warming up! All five eggs have made it through the Great Eggscape and the chicks are drying off, however, one Buff chick (who was the first to be born) passed away unexpectedly right after. I'm just so grateful we have four darling little babies! (Who surprisingly look exactly the same!)

And so the first day of the chicks' lives begins...welcome to the world little peeps!