Hatching chickens on last days

[beginnerHatcher]

Hi im new to this website and to hatching chickens. I recently bought eggs and started incubating.
I have done everything right so far and candled some and found growing chickens! The one question i have is what should the temperature be in celsius? Right now i have it at 36.8-37.5. The humidity i presume is correct 70-80%. But does anyone know the temperature it should be in CELSIUS during days 18 and up?

 

[Clearly]

37.5c is correct... At least per my brinsea incubator.

Also, Google has a Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion calculator for any future help.

Good luck with your chickies!

 

[kuchchicks]

Two questions: What percentage of your eggs hatch and what do you do when you open the incubator?

Like Amy, I do open my bator during lock down. I keep my humidity up to at least 75%. I don't open the bator wide, leave the lid off, and goof around. BUT if there is a reason, I do open it. When I open my bator I do it quickly and with a purpose. Most of the time if I am opening my bator it is because I am removing chicks after they hatch. The reason why I started doing this is because when I use to leave them in there until all were done hatching I noticed that I had chicks that would pip but never progress... they were typically eggs that got rolled by the hatched chicks. I often did not see that they had pipped as they ended up pip side down from being rolled. After a few hatches of losing chicks at pip, I decided to start taking my chicks out shortly after hatch. I have a second incubator that I use to allow them to dry. But if you don't it is possible to put them into a brooder as long as the temp is correct and you are watchful. My average hatch rate over the last 12 months is 94%. I have never had an issue with chicks getting shrink wrapped. I run my bator dry during the first 17 days (do not add water unless humidity goes to 25% and then I don't allow it to go over 35%). Then like I said at lock down I raise it to 75%. When I open my bator it is opened for less than 10 seconds, open it just enough to get my hand in, and quickly shut. It takes less than a minute for my humidity to recover. To my knowledge Amy incubates and locks down the same way. I cannot speak to how and why she opens her incubator during lock down.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ok so I just found that one of my chicks pipped! When they hatch do I keep them in the incubator cause I'm worried they will die from the heat and humidity

Congrats!!! When to move chicks is a personal decision. Some people don't remove chicks until the hatch is complete. Some people wait until they are fluffy or dry. Then there are those of us who take them out earlier. The one thing you should consider when making this decision is how well your humidity in the incubator recovers after opening it, and making sure you have a good humidity level (70%) before opening it.

I run my humidity at 75% for hatch and I remove my chicks as they become active and start moving around in the bator. Because I do run a higher humidity my chicks don't fluff up very well in the bator. They dry and fluff much better in my brooder under my brooder light (which is usually about 100F the first few days.) I also use an old LG9200 with the fan attachment and had two chicks get hurt stretching out under the fan, so I don't like them staying in the bator. Plus I'm impatient and I wanat to see them. I waited long enough!

I also prefer that they are where they have electrolyte infused water and food for when they want it.

Generally, if your settings are accurate for hatch (temp and humidity) a chick won't die from being in there unless they are dehydrated at hatch and are kept from water. The longest I've left chicks in the bator is when they are hatched during the night and I was able to actually fall asleep. (Which doesn't happen much once they start hatching...lol)

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Amy what electrolyte water are you using?

I always use the save a chick for at least the first three days after hatch.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

What differences do you notice using this vs straight water? I can say that I had a chick that took what seemed like forever to hatch on my last round. When she came out she looked like death warmed over! I really did not think she was going to make it. She was my last chick to hatch and so I left her in the bator over night. When I woke up the next morning she was still just laying there. She had not moved from that spot over night. I ended up pulling her out, gave her a few drop of Nutri Drench and a drink of water. Within an hour she was up and running around with the other chicks. I really believe it was the Nutri Drench. So I was just wondering if you found giving the electrolytes you noticed lively chicks sooner? Kind of a little jump start.

I have never used straight water for my incubated chicks. From my very first hatch I have always had sav a chick in the water because my sister told me to...lol But I have always had healthy chicks and I have only ever had 2 die after going in the brooder. One I believe to have had digestive problems died 9 days later and one I think got over ran by the others because it was as healthy and big as can be and I found it flattened in the bottom of the brooder. It was also my hatch that hatched out 33 chicks, so there was a lot. I wonder if during vacuuming or something spooked them and they charged one end and took that one down??? Not sure. I think electrolytes do them good after hatch. They are always lively and active. I have heard excellent things about nutri drench too. Lots of people swear by that as well.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hi im new to this website and to hatching chickens. I recently bought eggs and started incubating.
I have done everything right so far and candled some and found growing chickens! The one question i have is what should the temperature be in celsius? Right now i have it at 36.8-37.5. The humidity i presume is correct 70-80%. But does anyone know the temperature it should be in CELSIUS during days 18 and up?

If you have a forced air incubator then, 37.5C is correct. If you have a still air incuator the temps should be 38.3-38.9C taken near the tops of the eggs. 70% + is good humidity for LOCKDOWN and HATCHING.

You do not need to adjust the temps for lockdown and hatch. Some people do lower it a degree (F) for hatch, but it's not a neccessity.

 

[beginnerHatcher]

Ok thank you I'm just new so I wanted to make sure none of them were at risk also I just saw that one egg somehow has a tiny puddle underneath it is that ok?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Ok thank you I'm just new so I wanted to make sure none of them were at risk also I just saw that one egg somehow has a tiny puddle underneath it is that ok?

A tiny puddle of what? Water? If it's water I'd sop it up, if it's coming from the egg there's a bigger problem.

 

[beginnerHatcher]

I don't think it's the egg.but if the chicks are in lockdown how can I sop up the water. Is it ok to open it?