Are they hurting them?

[micmse]

So I have an incubator full of eggs in my classroom. Most of the little sneaky guys decided to hatch over night so now I have like 14 little chicks running around. Great- except I have a few still trying to hatch. They are getting kicked around, sat on, and pecked. I am most concerned about a little bantam that has been 3/4 of the way zipped since yesterday and every time he starts working he kicks kicked or moved around.

Does all of this hurt them or prevent them from being able to come out?

Thanks!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Once the chicks are dry and fluffy there is no reason you can't take them out to put them in their brooder. This will give the still-to-hatch eggs some peace. You might keep a mister bottle of water handy for when you open the incubator if you have problems bringing the humidity back up. Just LIGHTLY mist the inside before closing it up again. I wouldn't open the box more than than twice a day at most unless your equipment comes back up to temperature quickly.