Chicks rolling other eggs during lockdown. What do you do??

[peachesdeese]

What if chicks are rolling the other eggs around during lockdown? I have had pipping eggs end up wrongside up! Do you leave it alone? Or ...fast as lighting... open...take chick out to another bator/brooder.. and close? Aghhh!
What do you guys do when this happens to you!?!?

 

[SpunkyTheMonkey]

apparently it's normal for them to do this and to help other chicks out of their eggs. do not open.

 

[MandyH]

We hatch ours in an egg carton, we've been doing it that way for about 4 years for this very reason. Another advantage is that you can also hatch more eggs at one time.

 

[dancingbear]

Playing 'bumper eggs" actually helps stimulate them to hatch. When ever they get bumped or rolled, they respond by kicking and moving, this helps them push out of the egg, once they get it zipped, or mostly zipped.

I seriously doubt that eggs are perfectly still, for three days, when they hatch under a hen. They get moved. They get bumped, and pecked.

Don't worry, they'll be fine!

 

[Akane]

No one has ever proven that it does any harm. It is pretty easy to see that chicks hatch faster when other chicks are in there making noise and knocking things around. I purposely leave at least one chick in the bator for that reason.

 

[milleryardchx]

i think its just fine example my last hatch i had one egg hatch then within 12 hours all the others that didn't even have a pip all hatched. i think the noise of the one chick and bumping stimulates everyone else too get out of their egg.

 

[IsleofWightGirls]

that's just answered one of my questions

 

[AHappychick]

i do believe it causes harm if the egg that gets rolled has already pipped and ends up pip down after being knocked into. I have lost several chicks that I think would have hatched fine otherwise, but who knows. I almost always loose one chick this way every hatch so I have started trying to have 2 hatchers going so that very few eggs are in each, and after aout 12 hours when there are too many chicks and they are knocking into all the other eggs I remove them and help out the few that may have been messed up. I do it fast and try to do this only once mid hatch and after the majority have hatched. I have saved a few chicks recently this way. Its a tough call, I also leave the hatcher in complete darkness now and try not to turn on the light as I have noticed they are much less active in the dark and it does not seem to effect the other chicks from hatching.

 

[jnkir7]

i have a problem with my babies,their head touches the heating element im afraid they will burn themself so i quick get them out anyone else have this problem . with little Gient

 

[tia]

Peachesdese - I used the egg carton method for the first time last time and loved it... You don't get to see as much movement before they hatch, but it is nice and clean, and keeps the large end up. I cut a hole about the size of a nickel out of each cup in the carton - Probably not good if they pip in the wrong end... fortunately mine all pipped in the top this time. : )


jnkir7 - I had that problem with the Little Giant last time I hatched with it ... The little Duckies were singeing the top of their heads on the heating element. I had to take them out and put them in the brooder earlier. I hatched before in the Little Giant without that problem.... maybe tall ducks?????????? or more active???? I'm not sure.

Tia