Arkansas folks speak up.........

[MorgansManor]

I've got pips too!!!

So exciting!

 

[jenjscott]

Don't open that incubator too much!

 

[MorgansManor]

Welcome to he world little one!

Oh this is just too much I have 2 broody hens sitting on eggs but got at least a week... Good luck everyone! We need lots and lots of pictures..please

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

yes if you open the incubator at that stage of the hatch u can loose your humidity and the ones that are piped or zipped will get dried into there shells... i would say don't open more than 3x a day and i only open mine once every 24 hours... i also keep a spray bottle of water next to mine and right before i close it up i will mist water over the eggs... you will find u will get better hatches the less u open the door/lid...

 

[auntie tee]

HI all,
Greetings from North Central Arkansas (in between Waldron and Danville.)
I have just ordered my first batch of heritage breed chicks, from Sand Hill. Should be getting Marans, dorkings, lavender orps, redcaps, blue laced red wyandottes and black ameracaunas (supposed to not be EEs but the true thing) unless they substitute. In any case, should be a good mix.

 

[auntie tee]

Oh, a couple of Royal Palm turkeys

 

[cmnrallye79]

Well hopefully I have not screwed up.

 

[birdsss]

man i've got some brooder over crowing going on for sure. they are persistent about knockin over their water and feeder. i wish i could tell male/female at this age.



i do have several unknown breed black/grey male large fowl chicks feb 11 hatch that i'd love to give away for free should anyone want 'em to raise for meat or whatever

 

[Puddin Fluff]

best of luck to all you hatchers!

Welcoome Antie Tee!

 

[Ridgerunner]

yes if you open the incubator at that stage of the hatch u can loose your humidity and the ones that are piped or zipped will get dried into there shells... i would say don't open more than 3x a day and i only open mine once every 24 hours... i also keep a spray bottle of water next to mine and right before i close it up i will mist water over the eggs... you will find u will get better hatches the less u open the door/lid...

Well hopefully I have not screwed up.

There are a lot of things with chickens that falls into the category of what can possibly happen versus what will absolutely happen each and every time. A lot of the recommendations on this forum fall into that category. I live on a very quiet private road with only three houses further up. I could pull out of my driveway without looking for traffic and be OK practically every time. But occasionally something is coming and I have to wait. Just because I can get away with it once doesn’t mean I can every time. And just because I have to wait once doesn’t mean something is coming every time. But it is a reasonable precaution to look before I pull out. I may not always come to a complete stop, but I look before committing myself.

Opening the incubator is like that. If the egg has pipped, it can become shrink-wrapped. That’s where the membrane inside the egg dries out and shrinks around the chick preventing it from hatching. It happens. It does not happen each and every time. If the egg has not pipped, it’s not going to happen because you opened the incubator.

There are different things that affect that. Some people open it a lot like you have been doing and never seem to have a problem. A few seem to have problems most of the time.

Unless you have a specific reason to open the incubator, like you need to correct a problem, it is a reasonable precaution to not open it during hatch when one might be pipped. Sometimes they pip on the bottom where you can’t see them. Usually there is no real reason to open it. The egg shells won’t hurt them unless one gets fitted around a good egg, where it fits like a glove. That may be a good reason to open the incubator. I’ve never seen that happen to where it caused a problem but I have seen two opened egg shells fit together like that with the chicks moving them around. It’s one of those things that is possible but not likely.

The chicks can go three days without food or water after they hatch because they absorb the yolk. That’s why they can be mailed. The temperature in there is good. Usually the humidity really jumps when they start hatching, but if you need to add water you can do that through a vent hole. Just use a straw and syringe or something like that.

There is seldom any real reason to open the incubator from lockdown until you take all the chicks out. Occasionally things happen where you have to decide if it is worth the risk or not. But it is reasonable to not open it unless you have a real reason.