Ahh hatching on day 18!!

[suburbanfarmer]

So I went away for one night and I came home with the intention of taking the egg turner out and increasing the humidity. But when I went to the incubator I found a fully hatched chick and 3 more piping! The humidity was only at 40 percent! This is my first hatch! What do I do? How do I get the turner out if they are supposed to be in lockdown?

 

[andreabell]

Hello I would either leave them alone if ones hatched without a problem the others probably will. I know myself if you have to go in I put a damp warm cloth in to quickly get the humidity up to what it should be to prevent them drying out. I had something similar with one of my duck eggs I could here him cheaping at day 24 so I quickly opened it and filled all the water tanks and he was here by the afternoon. Hope this helps

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Thank you for the help. before I heard any response, I quickly removed the turner and laid them out, opened the vent plugs and added some water. The humidity is 80 percent now and now I have 3 chicks and one peeping! I hope I did not mess up the rest of them too badly. The three seem healthy but there are still 37 eggs to go!

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are probably hatching early because your incubator is running warm. Before your next hatch calibrate a thermometer and check that. You will probably have to tweak the temperature down at least a full degree. But this is for next time.

The main reason you want to remove the turner for lockdown is to make clean-up easier. I don’t know what yours looks like but the chicks poop and drag some of that after hatch slime around. If the motor is exposed that could get messy.

Another reason to remove turners is that many have some sharp corners where a chick could possibly catch a foot, wing, or neck. This is one of those things that is highly unlikely to happen but it is possible. I would not worry about this a lot but immediately turn that turner off so it is a lot less likely to trap a chick.

The reason you are told to not open the incubator during lockdown is that it is possible to shrink wrap a chick that has pipped when you do this. This is something that doesn’t happen a lot but it is something that is possible to happen. I did it once so I’m hesitant to casually open the incubator during lockdown. But it happens so rarely that if I have an emergency I open the incubator and take care of the problem. I don’t always have “ideal” situations but sometimes have situations “I deal” with. That’s where you are.

I just noticed your last post. I think you did the right thing. Some people have absolutely no self-control and casually open the incubator during lockdown all the time. I’ll PM Amy and ask her to look at this thread. She has a lot of experience in opening incubators. Maybe she can help boost your confidence.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

They are probably hatching early because your incubator is running warm. Before your next hatch calibrate a thermometer and check that. You will probably have to tweak the temperature down at least a full degree. But this is for next time.

The main reason you want to remove the turner for lockdown is to make clean-up easier. I don’t know what yours looks like but the chicks poop and drag some of that after hatch slime around. If the motor is exposed that could get messy.

Another reason to remove turners is that many have some sharp corners where a chick could possibly catch a foot, wing, or neck. This is one of those things that is highly unlikely to happen but it is possible. I would not worry about this a lot but immediately turn that turner off so it is a lot less likely to trap a chick.

The reason you are told to not open the incubator during lockdown is that it is possible to shrink wrap a chick that has pipped when you do this. This is something that doesn’t happen a lot but it is something that is possible to happen. I did it once so I’m hesitant to casually open the incubator during lockdown. But it happens so rarely that if I have an emergency I open the incubator and take care of the problem. I don’t always have “ideal” situations but sometimes have situations “I deal” with. That’s where you are.

I just noticed your last post. I think you did the right thing. Some people have absolutely no self-control and casually open the incubator during lockdown all the time. I’ll PM Amy and ask her to look at this thread. She has a lot of experience in opening incubators. Maybe she can help boost your confidence.

xs2
I'm one of those people with no self control

Ridgerunner puts it so nicely though...lmao

But it's true, I do, and with high success. The important thing is to have that humidity up. And you have it up now so YAY!! And you got that turner out of there. Besides being messy they can be dangerous to little legs. So, yeah, the chances of causing problems when you have sufficient humidity is low. I like to think of it as the same risk you take getting in a car. And if you are monitoring your hatch you can catch issues such as dry membranes and can in most cases "fix" that too. Membranes should be white and papery. If they turn brownish/yellow and appear leathery, then they are drying out and possibly gluing to the chick. You moisten the membrane and check the inner membrane mak sure it's not dried to the chick, moisten and pull it back if it is and usually you can replace them so they can finish themselves.

If you do find you need to help and you need help helping, you can always jump on here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1081034/hands-on-hatching-and-help and one of us will surely help you out!

 

[suburbanfarmer]

Thank you! I checked the thermometer and it is roughly 1 degree off but I was keeping it at 99 for the most part. Maybe it is more off than that. It is a still air incubator so the temps vary around the surface and it is tough to decide how to set it. I have spent many hours staring at these eggs. I have 4 chicks now and two piping. One just started and the other has been piping since last night. They are both making progress. The first chick that hatched is dry and there are two others that are mostly dry and one that is wet. When would you remove them? The first one hatched some time yesterday probably in the mid afternoon.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thank you! I checked the thermometer and it is roughly 1 degree off but I was keeping it at 99 for the most part. Maybe it is more off than that. It is a still air incubator so the temps vary around the surface and it is tough to decide how to set it. I have spent many hours staring at these eggs. I have 4 chicks now and two piping. One just started and the other has been piping since last night. They are both making progress. The first chick that hatched is dry and there are two others that are mostly dry and one that is wet. When would you remove them? The first one hatched some time yesterday probably in the mid afternoon.

Moving chicks is a personal decision. Some wait until the hatch is completely done, some wait until they are dried and fluffed and then there are those of us that take them out sooner. I take mine out as they start to become active and moving around in the bator and put them in the brooder where they have electrolyte enhanced water and starter crumbles at the ready.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Where were you taking the temperature? In a still air it should be about 101.5 at the top of the eggs. Since hot air rises it’s very important where you take the temperature in a still air.

I normally wait until the hatch is over and they are mostly dried off, usually two to three days. But my last hatch I had to help one out. Since the incubator was open anyway and there were no others left that had pipped, I took the earlier ones out and left that one behind to dry off and recover.

There is no right way or wrong way to do this. Since you are dealing with living animals there are risks no matter what you do. I figure I am less likely to cause harm the less I interfere but as you can tell Amy has a different opinion. I respect her experience and judgment even if I don’t always agree with it.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Where were you taking the temperature? In a still air it should be about 101.5 at the top of the eggs. Since hot air rises it’s very important where you take the temperature in a still air.

I normally wait until the hatch is over and they are mostly dried off, usually two to three days. But my last hatch I had to help one out. Since the incubator was open anyway and there were no others left that had pipped, I took the earlier ones out and left that one behind to dry off and recover.

There is no right way or wrong way to do this. Since you are dealing with living animals there are risks no matter what you do. I figure I am less likely to cause harm the less I interfere but as you can tell Amy has a different opinion. I respect her experience and judgment even if I don’t always agree with it.

And ditto.