December hatch-along?

[aliciaplus3]

Hatch is scheduled for tomorrow so we did a quick candle tonight. The turkey is internally piped and the other 4 look to be drawing down so I am hopeful!

 

[Scrambles55]

First time Hatcher here.
What does “drawing down” mean.
Also, can you see the internal pip?

 

[aliciaplus3]

First time Hatcher here.
What does “drawing down” mean.
Also, can you see the internal pip?

Drawing down is where the air sac gets bigger on one side. I can see the pip when candling

 

[Paintgirl427]

I’m up to 2 and having the best time ever !! BB Red Bantams. My second go at this and it’s such a wonderful thing !!!
I brought Wentworth out to meet the new little one .

 

[Scrambles55]

Am I allowed to handle the eggs while pipping?
How much should I worry about shrink wrap?

 

[Kat MacK]

Am I allowed to handle the eggs while pipping?
How much should I worry about shrink wrap?

We have had horrible problems with shrink wrap this fall, but some of that is probably breed-dependent (ODs are notoriously hard to hatch by incubator), and a LOT of it is probably regional climate. We're really dry where I live, so we probably have a lot more shrinkwrap issues than folks in the Southeastern US, for example.

But based on what I've seen with the three bator hatches that we've done this fall, if I were you, I would NOT open the bator for any reason from first pip to at least 24 hours later. Ideally, I wouldn't open it till everyone that's pipped, has either hatched or stalled out, although if an egg has gone past 24 hours from pip to stall out, I might remove it to work on it if everyone else is progressing well. It's my understanding that if you open to intervene on one, you're risking shrinkwrapping everyone else that has pipped but not yet hatched, and my (admittedly limited) experience bears that out.

 

[Kat MacK]

Am I allowed to handle the eggs while pipping?
How much should I worry about shrink wrap?

To add on: I should note that we've assisted six chicks out this fall, total, that have shrinkwrapped (see Sally Sunshine's EGGCELLENT Assisted Hatching article - absolutely invaluable). Incubator hatching is an artificial, NOT a natural, environment, so to my way of thinking, a chick that might be perfectly healthy and be able to hatch just fine under a broody could understandably have trouble in an incubator (particularly one being run by an amateur like me), so assisting chicks out is acceptable in those circumstances. In other words, I'm not one of those folks who argues that intervening to assist a hatch is against the natural order and will result in perpetuating weak/unhealthy genes in the chicken population. Incubators themselves are against the natural order, so that argument against assisting is not logically sound.

 

[Scrambles55]

@Kat MacK
Thank you!! It’s pretty dry here. I’m in North Idaho. The humidity in the bator changed a lot over the hours and I’m trying to check it every 2 hours that I’m awake. I do have insulation around the incubator to help with temp and humidity.
I have helped one egg hatch a few years ago, but it was under a broody. All the others had hatched and she had kicked this one out of the nest. It was zipped and the chick was alive, so I assisted and placed the chick under the broody. The chick was cold and I didn’t have much hope but..... it survived and thrived.
I will leave the eggs alone in the bator except to quickly add water if needed. Takes me 2 seconds.
Now, I wait.... lockdown has started
12 eggs in

 

[Scrambles55]

 

[Kat MacK]

@Kat MacK
... The chick was cold and I didn’t have much hope but..... it survived and thrived.
I will leave the eggs alone in the bator except to quickly add water if needed. Takes me 2 seconds.
Now, I wait.... lockdown has started
12 eggs in

Good luck! It sounds like you got this!