Last week I hatched 3 barred rocks out of 26 eggs obtained locally. I am now hatching another 30 eggs obtained via ebay. So far about 6 have hatched and several more are pipping. I work shift work and 3 chicks were out at 6 AM. When I woke up at 1 PM there were 3 more out and some half out with more pipping. My question is: Should I remove the hatchlings or leave them until tomorrow morning when I get off work? My humidity is at 57% with a forced draft gqf incubator with 2 vents 1/2 way open. Temperature is 100 degrees at the hatch tray. How long should I give them before chunking the eggs? Is it normal for it to take several hours to hatch a batch of chicks? I waited too long before putting them in lockdown because wifey miscalculated the days. They were in lockdown only for around 24 hours before they started hatching. How bad did this hurt me? Lots of questions but I am very serious about hatching these due to the fact that they are Black copper Marans and I want a good flock.
I'm no expert, but from what I've read, it's OK to leave them in the incubator for up to 2 days. Better that than opening bator while eggs are still trying to hatch and losing humidity
If it were me, I would leave them in there. 24 hours is fine for them to be in there. When chicks get shipped they survive that long no problem. I would leave the incubator closed so the rest can finish hatching. Then tomorrow morning you can evaluate what you have going on in there and see if you want to scoop out the dried off chicks and give the other eggs more time. You can give the left over eggs a couple more days if needed. Hope that helps.
I'd leave them. They can easily last 48 hours without any problems and probably quite a bit longer. Sometimes broodies will keep the first chicks that hatch on the nest longer than that. I would be real careful about opening the incubator while chicks are hatching. I have shrink-wrapped chicks before by doing that. I'm a little surprised your humidity is that low when they are hatching. Mine usually jumps up about 20% when they start hatching, but if yours are doing OK, I would not mess with it. You'll get a whole lot of different opinions oin humidity on this forum. Different humidities work for different ones of us. I don't know how much delaying lockdown hurt you, if it hurt you at all. I don't think whether they are turned or not is the issue but the humidity can be. Most of us violate some rules of incubation occasionally and often we make out OK. I would not over-obcess over that. My incubator ran a little hot so one batch hatched a little early. I already had one pipping when I put them in lockdown after 18 days. That chick hatched fine. I can't tell you when to give up. Each hatch is different. I would expect all of them that are going to hatch will have hatched after 48 hours, but I don't see that you are hurting anything by putting a wet sponge or paper towel in there to help with humidity when you take the other chicks out and give it another day or two. With a forced air, 48 hours should cover you pretty well. A still air can have warm and cool spots, so they can sometimes take longer for all to hatch. Hope this helps a bit. Good luck and congratulations on the chicks.
Thanks so much!! I just added water to the humidity pan and closed the incubator. It will not be re-opened for 15 hours. I will be stuck at work so the temptation to check on them will be checked. I am actually thankful that Im going to be at work now because I find it irresistible to watch them.
