Whew! It has been a day! So this morning temp and humidity was holding within an aceptable range and I had several pips. Then in a matter of an hour I had two chicks out of their eggs!
Almost there!
Its hard to take pics through the bator window.
So I left for work and I worried all day....about those two chicks that had hatched and about all the others. If you live in Oklahoma you know it got HOT today. I rushed home after work expecting maybe a couple more babies. I had 4 more for a total of 6!!!! BUT the bator humidity had risen from an acceptable 70% to a completely unacceptable 99 due to our weather! There was water dripping from the bator windows and the babys were sopping wet. I went to my friends at www.backyardchickens.com for advice. Normally you do not take the lid off the bator until all your eggs have hatched because the drop in humidity can cause "shrinkage" which means the membrane surrounding the chicks adheres to their face and body resulting in death....
DEATH IS NOT AN OPTION WITH ME! So I quickly took the lid off, removed a sopping wet sponge, grabbed the babies out, wiped the condensation off the windows, checked each pipped egg for life...each one was still chirping-very good news! Lid replaced, babies in the brooder, humidity back to normal and we are back in business! Theres lots of noise coming from the bator and several are zipping around their eggs. Should have more babies tonight :)
On the way to the brooder.....still a little damp.
Drying nicely and looking oh so sweet!!!!
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