911! First chick hatched but . . .

[LauraCTChick]

I am pleased to announce another bird hatched overnight! He's a little more unstable than the other and wetter. This one hatched about 7 hours after its sibling. These birds are from my second batch. My first batch, given to me a day ahead of these ones, haven't begun to pip or zip. I'm worried about quitters.

DH has a psychrometer which measures relative humidity. He was able to push it down into one of the ventilation holes about half way last night. Humidity reading was 87%.

Can't wait for more hatching!

 

[geebs]

If you think plugging the airholes will work... do that then.... I would drip a little hot water in it with a straw and then put a towel (wet) over the whole bator... that helps with those inexpensive foam bators...(they are hard to keep humidity up) That usually solves the problem... Day 3.... do not touch those little babies till you are SURE the eggs are dead... if you open the bator you will kill the hatch... It is possible to open it if you go into the bathroom with it and equalize the humidity by turning on the showing.. You will need a hygrometer for that... If you open the bator even a little to snatch out a baby.. You have killed others... It is a LOCKDOWN RULE for a reason. Keep us posted!! I have plugged the airholes before and never had an ill effect... You need to keep an eye on temp as the bator fills with babies... Panting and you will need to keep adding cooler water to keep the temp down... The running around babies body heat can make them overheat....Do not keep waking the babies by peeking in all the time.... That gets them excited and heats up the bator.

 

[Bec]

They will all be fine in there, no worries

With the vent plugs, I just kept and eye on the humidity. When I had 4 hatching at the same time it spiked to 88% so I had to open a 2nd vent plug and it went back down a bit. As they dried and the egg shells dried, it went back to normal and even started to dip a little so I put 1 plug back in. I have had 1 plug out the whole time of lockdown. I have 11 little babies hatched out and happy, 10 I had to remove because they were panting and too hot.
When I did this, I had everything ready; spray bottle filled with hot water(not boiling, just tap water hot) a box for the babies. Then I had assistance to make it go faster, I had my daughter hold the box and I opened up the bator, grabbed all the DRY, walking fluffy babies, put them in the box, sprayed some mist in the bator and closed it back up! I immediately put the new babies in their already set up brooder under their heat lamp and dipped their beak in the water. They are all happy campers now! I started with a total of 37 eggs, 33 made it to lock down..so I had 10, as ranchhand explains it, 10 little drunk monkeys trampling over everything...even the pipping and zipping eggs. If they had not started panting, they wold still be in there. I would have preferred to have not had to open the bator, but in emergency situations, sometimes you have to. Just keep checking in on them and take note of any difference in behavior. This was my first hatch too and it is very nerve racking!!! But once you have them popping out like popcorn, you settle a bit. Then you know things are going well

 

[country freedom]

Quote:
Synchronized hatch, since the chicks don't have a mother hen talking to them, they'd have each other, to hurry each other up.

 

[ginasmarans]

Once other chicks begin to hatch,the humidity will take care of itself. Mine always gets high and gets droplets. I just take the plastic piece off,shake it off and put it back. I am jatching now and nothing is going right. Yesterday was day 21 and my fan quit working. I had 2 chicks out and several pips. I had to work,so I bumped the temp up a little and left. Came home and I had chicks,lots of pips,but the temp said 108! Humidity was High. I turned it down and left it alone. Came back and the temp said 132!I whisked off the top and started checking eggs. Several had the little pip rack so I widened the hole and the chicks were alive. I turned the bater off and replaced the lid. The temp would neve go below 108, but the eggs were cool to the touch, so I took the thermometer out and let it get to room temp. Put it back and it seemed o.k., it read 102 at bed time but the humidity was still HIGH. This morning,several more chicks had hatched and the temp read 124. The eggs were cool,so I knew that was not right. Humidity was still high. I removed all the chicks except for the weak ones, helped some of the others make a little progress and turned up the temp,even though the thermometer read 124. Now it is about 99,humidity still high,eggs warm, chicks hatching and I noticed 2 new pips.I have 19 or 20 out now. I am flying blind and I hope just to save the already pipped chicks. I won't give up on the others though.

 

[momof2monkeys]

You guys are so amazing! I have a broody hen and no bator (yet) but I know when I do decide to hatch I will have a wealth of knowledge and amazing support from this forum. I am following this thread and I get all anxiety ridden, then a calm, cool and collected voice of reason comes along and I can relax.
I am sending good hatch vibes and thoughts to you, LauraCTChick. Good luck!

 

[ijon1]

I think two thermoneters work well. Between the two you can find somewhat right temp.