The Hatch Is On!

I set eggs in my incubator 20 days ago and as of tonight the first egg has pipped.  The only sign is a tiny crack in the shell and a few weak peeps every once in a while.

For hours nothing much changed, but as it got closer to morning the chick became more active.  Little by little the crack grew along the side and the peeps became louder and more frequent.

Finally after several large movements, the shell yawned open and revealed a tiny, wet, exhausted baby chick.

After breaking out of the egg, the chick rested in the wreckage of it's shell, recovering from the great ordeal of hatching.

Slowly but surely, the chick gained energy and began to move around in the incubator.  At first it's peeps were the frightened, loud peeps that young chicks make, but as it adjusted to it's new environment, the peeps calmed down to the happy exploratory peeps.  It began the process of learning it's body and new environment, resting often between small bouts of movement.  It will dry in the warm air of the incubator and will hang out in there until the other eggs hatch.  Baby chicks don't need food or water for the first 24-48 hours after hatching because they are still using the remainder of the yolk for sustenance. 

So far only the first chick has hatched, and none of the other eggs have pipped yet.  I think this chick may have gotten an early start on it's siblings and I expect the rest to hatch on schedule today.  I am hopeful that most of the eggs will hatch and I am looking forward to meeting the new additions to my flock.