Did I kill Chick by Peeping?

[EggPlanter]

So I guess I am not the best with patience, and I have taken a couple peeks in my incubator today. The reason for that being that I don't have a single viewing port and I don't like not knowing what is happening in the incubator. I confirmed that 2 out of 5 eggs have hatched and when I peeked last I noticed what I believed to be a pip in one of the other unhatched eggs. I know I am not supposed to be looking in the incubator, but I guess I have passed that now. I made sure to keep peeks under 5 seconds and I added more water the last time because humidity was only at about 50%, when I believe it should be closer to around 60% for hatching. I know that it is possible to shrink wrap a chick in their egg by letting the humidity escape, so I am curious to know if I have accidentally killed the chick that pipped. If you have any knowledge or experience with this situation I would appreciate to know what you think. Thanks!

 

[AlleysChicks]

What kind of incubator do you have? I wouldn't open it again. You may shrink wrap it.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

my room and incubators are close to the the same temp. Humidity loss or fluctuations is my only concern.

 

[sylviethecochin]

It's highly unlikely that you killed it. Shrink wrapping happens--but you can fix that by assisted hatching. I've taken (hatching) hens off of their nests all the time to see what's going on down there, and I haven't lost a chick to 'shrink-wrap' yet.

 

[gpop1]

As you have probably discovered there's no golden rule.

Im in florida my humidity is low as the ac unit runs most of the time which makes the risk of shrink wrapping higher. My incubator is home made and can recover humidity/heat with in minutes which lowers the risk of shrink wrapping.
To be honest It doesn't bother me to open the incubator as experience has shown that it has very little affect on my setup.

So the humidity in the house and the time it takes the incubator to recover affects the risk of shrink wrapping. As a rule we normally tell people never to open the incubator just in case but at least 95% of people cheat on this rule so I wouldn't worry to much about taking a peek just try to avoid it if possible.

If you haven't by now, take a few minutes to read some of the posts on assisted hatching. The chances are slim that you will need to assist but its a good thing to know.

You might want to consider adding a window (if possible) to the incubator before the next batch

 

[EggPlanter]

I dont know if the other chick is out yet, but my brooder setup is ready for the other ones that have hatched. Is it safe to remove the other chicks now?

 

[BYCforlife]

When I take my chicks out of the brooder, I put a damp paper towel gently over a pipping chick's hole to prevent shrink wrapping.