After chicks hatch

[pek]

When a chick hatches do you put it immediately under a heat lamp or let them fluff out?

 

[kidcody]

Leave them in the incubator until all have hatched. When they are all dry and fluffy then you can put them under heat.

 

[pek]

Quote:
all right thanks! but what if they all hatch a while after each other?

 

[featherful]

You should leave the chicks in an incubator for a while after they hatch until they are all fluffy and adorable.

Good luck!

 

[pek]

Quote:
thats what i thought, thanks!

 

[al6517]

I am not a fan of leaving chicks in the bator till they have all hatched, reason being some eggs will hatch out day's later and leaving a chick in that hot dry incubator without water to drink for 3-4 day's is a recipe for disaster. Now I do understand that those that hatch from the little toy styrobators have to do that or run the risk of harming any unhatched eggs. But I prefer to wait and remove chicks daily, give them a good start with water & feed and help their chances of not having a miriad of problems associated with leaving chicks in the bator for 4 day's. I have a larger incubator that is not subject to all of those problems folks have with the little incubators, so removing them daily never posses a problem for the other unhatched eggs, and giving the chicks water and feed really helps them thrive and your mortality rates will be less.

 

[Sjisty]

I always take my chicks out as soon as they are dry. I have tried leaving them in until more hatch, but that always causes a problem for me. My main problem is when a hatched egg gets slid over another egg, causing a double-layer of shell for the poor hatching chick to have to work around. I have heard everyone talking about messing up the humidity if you open the 'bator to take out a few chicks, but I have never had a problem.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A chick can live three days or more without any food or water. It gets what it needs for that time by absorbing the yolk. That's why they can be shipped in the mail and the Mama hen can stay on the nest until the later eggs hatch.

Any time you open any incubator you take a chance in shrink-wrapping a chick that has pipped but not completed hatching. That is where the membrane inside the egg shell dries out and shrinks around the chick, restricting its movements to where it cannot move to complete hatching. This is not something that will happen every time you open the incubator but it can happen. There are a lot of different factors involved in twhat the odds are of it happening if you do open the incubator. Some incubators are more at risk than others, but there have been people with the larger cabinert type incubators that have reported this problem. The basic issue is reducing the humidity in the incubator.

Like most things involved with chickens, the answers are usually more complex than some people seem to be able to understand. The recommendations on this forum, such as the recommendation to not open your incubator during lockdown, are generally designed to improve your odds of not having problems, not guaranteeing that you will or will not have problems. Many of us violate some of the recommendations and seldom have problems, but most of the recommendations are here because some people have experienced problems. I've opened the incubator a few times and not caused problems, but I have also shrink-wrapped chicks before by doing that. Sometimes you have to deal with a problem and face the potential consequences.

With all that said, I suggest you not open the incubator during lockdown, regardless of the type of incubator you have, unless you have a real need to open it. Not that I guarantee you that you will have problems if you do, but that you may have problems. And with a normal hatch, there is usually no need.

Good luck!!!