First time hatch, help!!!

[SaruDee88]

Hello, I've raised chickens for years now, but I've never hatched any eggs before. I had to go two weeks without collecting from my hens due to a serious illness. I do have a rooster in with my hens, but none of them have ever shown inclination to be broody, and quite frankly, he never seemed to be able to 'dock the ship', so to speak, as he's not very bright. But of course, the time when I'm unable to do more than feed them is when my Bantam decides to get broody, and my rooster gets lucky.
I pulled 10 eggs out from under her, candled them all, and found all ten to be at around 18 or 19 days. All of them were moving in the shells too, so I literally tucked them into my bra to keep them warm and ran to the nearest farm supply store to get an incubator!
Sure enough, in spite of the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing, they all pipped last night, and one of them was fully out this morning, and the others all have a pretty good start on zipping.
My concern is the humidity. I wasn't able to get it above 65%, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with the hatching, as none of them are shrink-wrapped, but I'm worried that they won't dry out in that high of a humidity. I'm at work right now, so I can't keep as close an eye on them as I would like. When I peeked in on them and found the one fully out, I couldn't tell how long he'd been out, but he wobbled a few steps, laid down, got up again, wobbled some more, laid down, so I imagine he'd not been out very long at all. Do I have any reason to be concerned about the humidity? I don't want to move any of them into the brooder I've got set up until they're dry...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm just curious why you didn't put them back under the broody hen. There would have been no expense of the incubator and electricity for brooding. She did all the work up to this time so let her finish her job. Artificial incubation is always less successful than under a hen - especially for an inexperienced hatcher without the best equipment.
You probably haven't had time to calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers. Thermometers off by 3 or 4F can kill them all.
I'd put any that haven't pipped yet, back under the hen.
IMHO, it is akin to taking a human baby away from its mother at birth.
I've experienced the grief a hen exhibits.

 

[ChickenGirl555]

I'm just curious why you didn't put them back under the broody hen. There would have been no expense of the incubator and electricity for brooding. She did all the work up to this time so let her finish her job.

I agree....If they were that far, you should've just let her raise them...Why did you feel that an incubator would be better?

 

[SaruDee88]

I agree....If they were that far, you should've just let her raise them...Why did you feel that an incubator would be better?

For starters, she put her nest on top of a stack straw bales that they no doubt would have died falling from, it's three bales high and just about shoulder-height to me. Fine for the adults to hop around on and chase bugs, not so ideal for little fluffers. Secondly, my other two hens are crotchety (They're about ten years old, Rhodies) and I have reasons to be concerned that they would attack the chicks. Third, the rooster is a dummy who flies into a panic at the drop of a hat, and I would worry about him trampling them (He's full-sized as well). Clearly, since they're hatching just fine, I made a good call. As I said, I'm just concerned about the humidity levels in the incubator for the chicks to dry out after hatching, I'm not worried about whether it was a good idea to take them out from under Ms. Broody or not.

 

[jas humbert]

I just hatched a batch after a couple of year's break and the very experienced hatcher I got the eggs from told me she always keeps the humidity to 65% for the final hatching; so I did the same and everything went fine. I's say you are good at 65% especially if you try hard not to open during hatching. So maybe being at work is a good thing. I had my first new baby hatch at midnight this last Friday then I went to bed immediately. I got up to 6 little chicks running around the bator perfectly dry and fluffy at 65% humidity. I'm sure they will be fine. Congrats!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

triple post

 

[ChickenCanoe]

double post

 

[ChickenCanoe]

While higher than ideal, the chicks would have been fine dropping down from the nest.
Some species of ducklings drop 30 or 40 feet from their nest in a tree cavity.
You could also have removed one or two bales to lower the nest
A mother hen is a formidable foe that will protect her charges from all comers, whether they be crotchety RIRs or a cumbersome rooster.
We're not here to second guess you. We're here to give our best advice based on real world experience. Some of us have hatched multiple clutches with broody hens. I for one have had perhaps 50 plus broody raised clutches.
Now that you've decided to incubate and brood them yourself, what are you using for a heat source?
More importantly, without a broody mother hen to protect them, how do you plan on introducing the chicks to the flock? You'll likely need to raise them in their own quarters till they're nearly the same size as your adults.
Normally a broody hen protects them until they are accepted as members of the flock- just as they have done for millions of years.
I appreciate the fact that you made a decision on your situation but I'm also sorry if you feel like your experience better than those who have been doing this for many years.

 

[SaruDee88]

While higher than ideal, the chicks would have been fine dropping down from the nest.
Some species of ducklings drop 30 or 40 feet from their nest in a tree cavity.
You could also have removed one or two bales to lower the nest
A mother hen is a formidable foe that will protect her charges from all comers, whether they be crotchety RIRs or a cumbersome rooster.
We're not here to second guess you. We're here to give our best advice based on real world experience. Some of us have hatched multiple clutches with broody hens. I for one have had perhaps 50 plus broody raised clutches.
Now that you've decided to incubate and brood them yourself, what are you using for a heat source?
More importantly, without a broody mother hen to protect them, how do you plan on introducing the chicks to the flock? You'll likely need to raise them in their own quarters till they're nearly the same size as your adults.
Normally a broody hen protects them until they are accepted as members of the flock- just as they have done for millions of years.
I appreciate the fact that you made a decision on your situation but I'm also sorry if you feel like your experience better than those who have been doing this for many years.

I really doubt that moving 90lb bales around with eggs on top of them would have been a good idea, especially since I'm still physically weak from my illness. As for my 'experience', I already stated that I'm a first time hatcher, but I don't think ten years of raising chickens from one week old is anything to be sniffed at. My Banty is very mild-mannered, and incredibly tiny compared to my Old Ladies, and with my personal experience with their personalities, I didn't trust that she'd be able to protect them. Y'all don't know *my* chickens the way I do. I didn't come here for your opinions on my decision to remove them.

Of course I have a brooder box that I've raised several chickens in, and of course I know how to introduce new chickens to a flock. That's not what I asked about. I simply asked about the humidity. If you're "not here to second guess" me, then stop second-guessing me and focus on the actual question I asked, please and thank you.

Oh, and for an update, in my time at work, 8 of the peepers are out, the remaining two are cracked and peeping away.

 

[SaruDee88]

I just hatched a batch after a couple of year's break and the very experienced hatcher I got the eggs from told me she always keeps the humidity to 65% for the final hatching; so I did the same and everything went fine. I's say you are good at 65% especially if you try hard not to open during hatching. So maybe being at work is a good thing. I had my first new baby hatch at midnight this last Friday then I went to bed immediately. I got up to 6 little chicks running around the bator perfectly dry and fluffy at 65% humidity. I'm sure they will be fine. Congrats!

Thank you so much for your reply! And yes, I will not be opening it until they're dry and moving around, I know they're good on nutrition for 72 hours due to the yolk, and I don't want to handle them until they've recovered from the hatching process. Thank you for reassuring me on the humidity, I've seen some horror stories about chicks dying under too high humidity, but I couldn't seem to find a good answer on how high was too high. I'm home now, and 8 of them are out. They're clearly exhausted, but they're responsive to each other's peeps, and they move around every couple of minutes or so. Thank goodness I've got windows on my incubator so I can look without bothering them! Another update, the first hatchling is already fluffing out on his head and wings, and he's running around exploring the incubator. The others are still resting, but they keep opening their eyes, lifting their heads, and peeping at each other. Everyone seems to be good and healthy. Two are still in their shells, but they've been working the pip spots pretty regularly, getting them bigger every few minutes or so, so it looks like I'm going to have 10/10 happy little fluffs soon!