1st Lockdown, Tell me I did it right...

[HighNDryFarm]

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They started hatching yesterday, as scheduled and hatched through the night. Total of 6 so far and two more are pipped, one is pipping from the bottom. So more questions (I've searched on the forum but couldn't find my answers):
1. Do I need to worry about the upside down one?
2. The oldest chick is about 26 hours old and the youngest is 5 hours old. Can I move the six or all of them for that matter to the brooder, after these last two hatch? If so, guidance on removal is appreciated and if someone could lead me back to the post that someone posted about using a hot steamy towel over the bater when you remove them or other methods would be appreciated. It's getting crowded in there.

I still have several that I will keep in the bator but there is not room for all of them and also I'm worried about the older chicks needing to come out.

Editing this because I just checked on them and two more pipped! I'm in shock since this was a really iffy batch of eggs and had thought I'd be lucky to get maybe 6. The others took about 8-10 hours after pipping to hatch so that would make the first chicks into 36 hours old by the time these all hatch....so new questions:
1. Can I remove through the window safely or is it best to just let them stay in there?????

Guess another sleepless night...I'm going to take a nap......had to call an employee to come in to work today, it's usually my day but I can't imagine leaving them. I'm still having to watch the humidity and temp, which is VERY difficult because the hatched chicks either knock them over or lay on them

 

[Gypsy07]

Sounds like you're doing GREAT! Out of interest, what did your lockdown humidity end up at? If I'd found this thread a couple of days ago I'd have disagreed completely with the folk who said your initial humidity was too high. I always aim for 75%+ and it works great for me. Each to their own though, and people have very successsful hatches with a wide range of humidities. Sounds like you've already found your own ideal one!

Your oldest chick doesn't need to come out of the bator for another day. They'll be fine in there. if you think they're crowded now, wait till you see them all sleeping in one great big pile! if you REALLY want to take some out, and you open the bator in a steamy bathroom, you most likely won't do any damage to the other ones, but you have to be aware that there is always a risk that you might. And how would you feel if you did harm them, just cause you didn't want to wait a bit longer? I personally do it myself and I don't think I've ever harmed a chick because of doing it, but I'm just saying, y'know? A risk is still a risk, no matter how small...

I wouldn't worry about the pipping upside down one unless he's still in his shell when everyone else has finished hatching. Then, you might have to give him a hand. But he'll be fine for now. If he's pipped, he's breathing, so he's in no immediate danger. He'll probably get out fine by himself. I've had a couple of upside-down pippers and they were okay...

 

[HighNDryFarm]

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Thank you Gypsy07. My humidity has been ALL over the place. After the initial 72% I pulled out the sponges and then it dropped below 50% and I couldn't get it up even after adding the sponges back until someone mentioned that is the surface that helps the humidity but I still had to shoot hot water in the sides (even though it slowly leaked out the vents on the bottom) with a syringe and straw every few hours to maintain about 55%. I have been on bator duty since Thursday trying to keep the temp and humidity stable. Now I'm having trouble because there are so many chicks in there that they keep flipping the thermometers and hydrometer or they're laying on them so I can't read them. My seventh chick just hatched and the others were pecking at it before it could even get out. I was wondering if they're thirsty. They are piled everywhere and the bator looks like they had a frat party in it!

The upside down one has his little beak sticking out so I know he's still breathing and he picks a bit every once in awhile. One of the others had a hole for longer then I would have liked so as long as he's OK on the downside I'll let it do it's thing.

I appreciate the info, I know I've read where you keep the humidity at 80% so I haven't panicked when I've gone up, just when I go under 50% I add the hot water. With all those chicks in there though, I haven't had to add water but a few drops one time.

Thank you also for the warning as well as how to remove some if needed. ALL information is so helpful. I want to make at least a semi educated decision.

 

[Gypsy07]

Did you say you were hatching in cartons? I just started doing that recently and I'm REALLY pleased with the results so far. I wouldn't worry too much about your temps or humidity at this stage. As long as your temp doesn't go up too much, they'll be fine. If it goes down a bit, it's not a problem. And hatching chicks create their own humidity, so I think they should be just fine now. As for taking them out, well, I always mean to leave mine in till they've all hatched, and I always crack and take some out once they've fluffed up a bit. I've never had any problems from doing this, but as Ridgerunner pointed out recently, that's probably just good luck, as the official incubating guidelines are there for a very good reason, namely being, on average they tend to produce the best hatch rates. So, messing with the guidelines means a risk of messing up your hatch.

Though like you say, educated decisions are good. Much better than random guesses! If you're going to do anything different, make sure you know why you're deciding to do it differently. Make sure you've got all your facts right, and make sure you know the possible downsides to your decision. And don't rely wholly on advice from random strangers on chicken websites. LOL! Anything people tell you, go away and google it. See what else you can find out on your own. Make sure that what they're saying makes logical sense, and that if you question them, they can explain in detail the facts behind what they say. Keep detailed notes on each incubation, so if something does go wrong, you can look back and try to pinpoint what exactly caused the problem.

Anyway... So how many bodies have turned up to the frat party now? LMAO!!!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

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I am hatching in cartons but I don't have anything to compare to since this is my first hatch. Funny how they'll get back in the egg if it stayed in the carton or they curl up in any empty spot. My only concern with the carton right now is the upside down one. It's moved around and I can barely see the little beak sticking out and it's still alive but I'm considering moving it out of the carton and onto it's side when I go in for some of the party goers! Got the brooder all set up and made my choice to "go in" and one of the other eggs were hatching, not the two that had already pipped but another.....and as I'm watching the chicks walking all over the poor thing I see that the egg next to it is also pipping!!!! Sooooooo....drumroll please.....I have 8 out and 3 more pipped! 1/2 of an impossible hatch! I'm in shock and so thankful. I've read and read this forum trying to educate myself on incubating since I never had planned on doing until the day after my girls got killed and then I didn't have any time to really look at the whole process, just learned step by step to get them set. It's been very nerve racking but looks like it was worth it.

So one thing I'd love to get an opinion on is going through the window instead of opening the whole lid???? I think I read that someone did that on this forum. Would I still need to put a hot towel over the bator or sprits with water? Everything I've searched on the internet usually brings me back to this forum and there is a similar consensus, however on the removing of the chicks after they have dried, I find more "remove chicks daily" from other places, (i.e., college and incubator brands websites) on the internet but more "don't open it" on here. I've had such unexpected success that I hate to temp fate but those older chicks are all over the new ones! I think it's time to move the party!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

I did it! I moved 5 out. The humidity was over 70% so I opened a window and grabbed the five oldest....best I could tell. Didn't seem to even effect the humidity. I also repositioned the upside down one so I could see the beak. I kept burning myself on the heat element so I couldn't safely get a hold of it to move it out of the carton, but it's still breathing. I'm thinking I'm going to have to help it if it doesn't hatch by tomorrow. I have one that's been keeping off to herself so I wanted to get her out and keep a better eye on her. I've heard people giving sugar water to a weaker chick? How do I make that? I'm egghausted!

 

[Gypsy07]

If she's just sleeping a lot, I wouldn't worry too much. Some of them expend more energy hatching than others and take an extra few hours or so to perk up. Give her a while yet. When I made sugar water, I did it with honey. Just dissolved some in a glass of hot water, let it cool down then fed it to the chick from a small syringe. I don't think the concentration is too important, you're just trying to give the chick a mini sugar rush. Like kids on fizzy juice!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Thanks, I ended up (no pun intended) with two hatching before the little upsidedown one but she finally came out about 5am. I checked back at 7am and I saw, what I thought was the same chick inside an already hatched chicks eggs...started counting and realized it was a new chick hatching! LOL I've removed all 12 from the bator, thinking I was pretty dang lucky with what I got but from advice here I need to keep it going to day 25 and guess what....another pip! Now I'm back with the battle to keep the humidity up because there isn't any chicks in there to help.....I thought I was going to be able to sleep tonight.

That little chick turned out to be fine once she was in the bator, just a bit shy maybe. I'm glad I took them out though because I had another one that was also keeping to the side and that one had a foot out to the side. I added some wire under the shavings for traction and put a bandaide to pull the legs together (thank you BYC forum) and she's walking around more and more! I should have got it a bit closer but I didn't have any help when I put the bandaide on.

Thank you for all the advice.

 

[theberlinfam]

Wow! Sounds like you had a great hatch. How man total do you have now???? Are you done???? CONGRATS!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

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Thank you!

I have 12 and one pipping and chirping away as I type so I guess I'm not done. I set 22 eggs but they were in the worst circumstances, washed, refrigerated, old......I really had hope for 7 if any (one candled infertile), so at best 6, so to have 12 (or 13 but I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched

). I'm thrilled.

The really interesting thing is that I had 8 Americauna eggs. Only one of my Americauna's was laying and not everyday so those eggs were the oldest eggs, maybe had been in the fridge as long as 2 weeks. As I mentioned in other posts (sorry for repetition but I never know what's been read before) 3 Americauna's I threw in when I was setting just because my roo is Americauna and I wanted some purebreds. So, if this one that is pipping now makes it, 7 of 8 of those eggs actually developed. It's just crazy!!!!

After I'm done with this hatch, I'm going to switch over the some breed threads and learn more about what I got...... this forum is crazy good!