Do hatchlings interfere with hatching eggs in an incubator?

Campine · Aug 19, 2014

Howdy, tried to look this one up, but didn't find anything.

I just hatched out some chicks, my wife likes to help when they hatch and she insists that they newly hatched chicks should be moved out asap because they sometimes kill the yet to be hatched eggs by running into them and making the hatching chick turn beak towards the screened bottom of the incubator or generally making them roll around so much it tires out and/or disorients the yet un-hatched chicks and they fail to hatch out.

Opinions please?

DCchicken · Aug 19, 2014

Campine said: ↑

Howdy, tried to look this one up, but didn't find anything.

I just hatched out some chicks, my wife likes to help when they hatch and she insists that they newly hatched chicks should be moved out asap because they sometimes kill the yet to be hatched eggs by running into them and making the hatching chick turn beak towards the screened bottom of the incubator or generally making them roll around so much it tires out and/or disorients the yet un-hatched chicks and they fail to hatch out.

Opinions please?
Click to expand...

Leave them alone. By opening the incubator you may drop the humidity and actually cause some eggs not to hatch. They are not harming the other eggs. In fact there was a study done that chicks talk to each other even while inside the eggs. So chicks that have already hatche may encourage others to complete the hatch.

Chicks can survive for three days without food and water after they have hatched. I leave mine in the incubator during the hatch and a day or so after.

Yorkshire Coop · Aug 20, 2014

DCchicken said: ↑

Leave them alone. By opening the incubator you may drop the humidity and actually cause some eggs not to hatch. They are not harming the other eggs. In fact there was a study done that chicks talk to each other even while inside the eggs. So chicks that have already hatche may encourage others to complete the hatch.

Chicks can survive for three days without food and water after they have hatched. I leave mine in the incubator during the hatch and a day or so after.
Click to expand...

I would most defiantly agree leave them be opening does cause humidity loss I never open the incubator. If you are worried about hatched chicks knocking other eggs you could try hatching in egg cartons I have had good results using this method. I know some people don't like this method but we all live and learn from each other. I have also found once the first egg has hatched and is out chirping the others seem to start making more noise back so I also believe this encourages them.

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Do hatchlings interfere with hatching eggs in an incubator?

Campine Chirping

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