Definition of hatched- settle an argument please

posterchild

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jun 5, 2011
12
0
22
My family has set it's first set of Pekin duck eggs, and they have started to 'hatch'. Everything we have read says they should stay in the incubator for 12 hours after hatching. My partner says 'hatching' could mean when the egg is mostly opened and the duckling is still in there, but I think it means when they are completely out. The reason I am asking for clarification is because it would change when we take it out and put it in the brooder. I don't want to get this bit wrong because we have not had a good run with our first try. We started with 9 eggs, 3 of which showed no sign of life at 1 week. The next week one of the remaining 6 showed no signs of growth, and now we only have 2 of the remaining five hatching (the other three have not even pipped.

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Stace
 
When the duckling is cracking around the shell to get out, it is referred to as "zipping." I don't consider that a bird is hatched until it is out of the shell. Incidentally, they don't have to stay in the incubator for 12 hours. They certainly can stay in there, but if you have no other pips or zipping birds, or the hatch is done, feel free to move them to the brooder before that as long as the brooder is warm and ready.
 
I also consider "hatched" to mean they are completely out of the shell. I found they dry a lot faster if you take the out of the incubator sooner rather than later. If I was worried about humidity getting too low I just sprayed some warm water around the edges of the incubator and everything was good!
 

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