Eggs are pipping and trying to zip! Humidity advice needed

[peytonbagg]

I am incubating chicken eggs in my preschool classroom (first timer), on day 20, in lockdown and a few have started to pip/zip! I'm wondering if my humidity level is adequate..currently at 65% but I am really anxious about their membrane leathering and them being unable to get out (we had a scare on day 15 with the incubator getting unplugged by the cleaners and humidity getting to 75%...since then I've been quite the anxious mother). One of them seems to be poking at the membrane but not breaking it. I have posted pictures for reference. Please give me any advice you can on the hatching process! I want to get these babies out! When is it necessary to help? What's the easiest way to open the incubator and add water without effecting the humidity and temperature (too much)? Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Thank you!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

don't open the incubator
use some tubing to put water into the reservoirs.

 

[peytonbagg]

Does the membrane look okay or should I up the humidity?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I am incubating chicken eggs in my preschool classroom (first timer), on day 20, in lockdown and a few have started to pip/zip! I'm wondering if my humidity level is adequate..currently at 65% but I am really anxious about their membrane leathering and them being unable to get out (we had a scare on day 15 with the incubator getting unplugged by the cleaners and humidity getting to 75%...since then I've been quite the anxious mother). One of them seems to be poking at the membrane but not breaking it. I have posted pictures for reference. Please give me any advice you can on the hatching process! I want to get these babies out! When is it necessary to help? What's the easiest way to open the incubator and add water without effecting the humidity and temperature (too much)? Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Thank you!

Many people hatch at 65%, I personally prefer 75% (I often open my bator during hatch and the 75% gives me the ability to do so w/o causing problems that dry air can with pipped eggs.) I use a sponge...or two in the bator. I just open the bator, slide the spong in there and close it back up. When I feel I need a humidity boost I do the same thing, during the entire hatch. You do NOT want to help unless it's absolutely necessary. A pipped egg can take up to 24 hours to start zipping. A malepositioned pipped egg (which your #20 looks like it may be, can't tell for sure as the eggs are quite round) can take even longer. If the membrane around the pip hole is nice white and papery that is a good sign. If it turns a brownish/yellow, then the inner membrane is getting dry and most likely starting to stick to the chick and needs to be removed and the membrane moistened, unstuck then a wet paper towel placed around it and it returned to the bator to finish. Here is an assisted hatching guide I strongly recommend: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching I wish you well with your hatch!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Does the membrane look okay or should I up the humidity?

The membranes look great.

 

[peytonbagg]

Many people hatch at 65%, I personally prefer 75% (I often open my bator during hatch and the 75% gives me the ability to do so w/o causing problems that dry air can with pipped eggs.) I use a sponge...or two in the bator. I just open the bator, slide the spong in there and close it back up. When I feel I need a humidity boost I do the same thing, during the entire hatch. You do NOT want to help unless it's absolutely necessary. A pipped egg can take up to 24 hours to start zipping. A malepositioned pipped egg (which your #20 looks like it may be, can't tell for sure as the eggs are quite round) can take even longer. If the membrane around the pip hole is nice white and papery that is a good sign. If it turns a brownish/yellow, then the inner membrane is getting dry and most likely starting to stick to the chick and needs to be removed and the membrane moistened, unstuck then a wet paper towel placed around it and it returned to the bator to finish. Here is an assisted hatching guide I strongly recommend: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching I wish you well with your hatch!

The membranes look beige I would say. How do you moisten the membrane and unstick? And you keep the paper towel around it in the bator? I've read that guide, it's great! I just love advice related to my specific situation (though it may not be that different )

I also currently have a wet washcloth in there. Would you say a sponge is better?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

The membranes look beige I would say. How do you moisten the membrane and unstick? And you keep the paper towel around it in the bator? I've read that guide, it's great! I just love advice related to my specific situation (though it may not be that different )

I also currently have a wet washcloth in there. Would you say a sponge is better?

I prefer the sponges, I've seen others use cloths as well. If it comes down to having to moisten the membrane, you can use a q-tip or cotton ball wetted. Pull the egg out, widen the pip hole by chipping away the shell around it. Moisten the membrane with the swab and pull open the outer membrane so that you can see the inner membrane around the area of the pip hole and see if the shell is stuck (it'll be a yellowish color and adhered to the feathers of the chick). You need only to wet the membrane and (I use tweezers) carefully pull the membrane, (only where stuck) away from the bird. It may take extra moistening to achieve this w/o pulling the feathers from the chick. The membrane will cover the chick, that is normal, you just want to remove the spot(s) that are sticking, usually directly in the vicinity of the oiginal pip hole. Once you know that the membrane is moist and not stuck, just wet a paper towel and lay around the egg (not covering the pip) and replace it to the bator with the paper towel around it. (This is to keep the membrane moist and give it time to hatch out on it's own.)

 

[MooreChickens]

DON'T Open !!
Once the first few hatch - the humidity will increase on it's own.
Opening while a hatch is in progress can be a death sentence for those still pipping if the humidity drops significantly.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

DON'T Open !!
Once the first few hatch - the humidity will increase on it's own.
Opening while a hatch is in progress can be a death sentence for those still pipping if the humidity drops significantly.

True, it will increase with hatchers. Opening the bator is not a death sentence. People are afraid to even add water to their bators because of these stories that certain death will occur from opening the bator during hatch. If that were true I wouldn't be having successful hatches because I am often opening the bator during hatching. It all boils down to what you have for humidity to begin with. Eggs don't shrink wrap as easy as people make out. The majority of the time, it's the drying sticking of the membrane that occurs when the membrane has been exposed to the air for a period of time. I am not saying that everyone should be as hands on as I, I am just saying this idea that certain death prevails with teh opening of the bator is way off. I don't usually argue with different methods of incubation as I don't feel that there is one "right" way. It's what works for the hatcher. But I think that advice should be given in terms of what "I do" not these blind one way and only one way and certaintanties that are just not true.
Not opening the bator after lockdown is not a bad thing or a wrong thing. A hands off theoretically has less risk just like never getting in a car has less risk of not having a car accident. The minute I get in the car I higher my chances of having an accident. It does not mean that I certainly will. It's a personal decision. One many make in oppposition to this "theory" with no ill effects.