Chicken Watch 2008

Well, it's been 18 days since we set the eggs in the incubator. We started out with 32 and after candling we're down to 18 viable embryos. A couple of those are questionable. At least one we know is perfectly alive and well because we could see it moving! It was almost as impressive as my kid's ultrasound.

After turning them 3 times a day, every day, it's now time to leave them alone so the chick will position itself properly inside the shell. Nothing else we can do other than pace back and forth and check the temperature, humidity and maybe boil some water and gather clean towels.

If we're lucky we should start to hear some peeping sounds coming from the eggs around Monday or so. We've moved the incubator to a more private location so we can lock psycho kitty out of the room if necessary. I know it will be necessary. On Tuesday we should start getting some little chicks poking their heads out into the world then we'll give 'em a quick smack on the bottom and pass out the cigars.