Day 21 - Finally hatching day!

My most awaited time has come.  But it’s not over yet.  The first chick hatched at 4:54 pm EST today.  Only 5 out of the 43 has completely hatched and been transferred to the brooder so far.  Most of the eggs are still pipping (started a small initial hole in its shell).  And others I can’t see very well because the incubator is made of plastic that is somewhat opaque.  I hope they're doing okay.  I'll let nature take it's course and will not help them crack the egg.  If they are not strong enough to crack the eggs themselves, then they will not be strong enough to survive and if they do, they won't have the quality of life after all (I'm glad we're not doing this to humans).  I’ve increased the room temperature to 32 Celcius.

Close up of the first chick to hatch.  I had to quickly close the incubator to try to maintain the humidity and temperature inside the incubator.

First chick to hatch.  I removed it from the incubator to make space for the rest of the eggs about to hatch.  The rest are still pipping

Below are some videos of the second chick that just hatched inside the incubator.

And here's the 4 chicks so far in the brooder.

Below is the video of the 5th chick to hatch.

I’ll check first thing tomorrow morning.  Hope I can get a decent sleep and not think about those chicks that are not hatched yet?