First timer with lots of questions

[chickfused]

I've always dipped beaks. Tapping is so much less traumatic. Thank you for teaching me!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't keep the incubator closed if I need to do something in there. I don't leave it open either, but lifting the lid to remove the egg that I need to do something with, do whatever I need to do and lifting lid to place the egg back in isn't going to cause problems as long as the incubator regains temp and humidity quickly

It must be very humid in your house. Especially in winter when house humidity is low, just cracking the lid for a moment will lose enough humidity here that pipped eggs will shrink wrap almost instantly no matter how quickly higher humidity is resumed.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

It must be very humid in your house. Especially in winter when house humidity is low, just cracking the lid for a moment will lose enough humidity here that pipped eggs will shrink wrap almost instantly no matter how quickly higher humidity is resumed.

I live in NC, and it is pretty humid around here especially in the summer. I don't think it's high in the house though. The humidity will dip whenever I open it but the NR 360 is very good at getting the humidity back up quickly. One other way I've learned to keep humidity up if I'm opening the unit more than usual is by using a very light mist of warm water on the eggs, avoiding any external pips or zips. @MGG was amazing and helpful with lots of tips and tricks to share. The assisting article by pyxis has a few more tips and tricks as well. I see what you're saying and in drier environments like that, I'd use the water ports on the unit and a small short container to hold a sponge in the incubator, adding warm water to the sponge as necessary to keep humidity up. (my apologies for the never ending sentence Is it Friday yet?) Of course I agree with you in it always being best if the chick can do all the hatching on it's own

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I live in NC, and it is pretty humid around here especially in the summer. I don't think it's high in the house though. The humidity will dip whenever I open it but the NR 360 is very good at getting the humidity back up quickly. One other way I've learned to keep humidity up if I'm opening the unit more than usual is by using a very light mist of warm water on the eggs, avoiding any external pips or zips. @MGG was amazing and helpful with lots of tips and tricks to share. The assisting article by pyxis has a few more tips and tricks as well. I see what you're saying and in drier environments like that, I'd use the water ports on the unit and a small short container to hold a sponge in the incubator, adding warm water to the sponge as necessary to keep humidity up. (my apologies for the never ending sentence Is it Friday yet?) Of course I agree with you in it always being best if the chick can do all the hatching on it's own

I'm not trying to beat you up. It is just that everyone has different conditions and equipment. So just suggesting opening the incubator mid hatch for any reason can be a recipe for disaster. That's why BYC calls it 'lockdown'. I have a cabinet incubator hatcher combo that I built from scratch. The way it is designed, I can open the hatcher drawer while humid air continues to flow over the eggs so I can cheat. But I know no one else has a setup like it. However, I have 3 sportsman cabinets and I can't get away with opening the door of those till all are done hatching. I would always get shrink wrapped chicks when I did.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'm not trying to beat you up. It is just that everyone has different conditions and equipment. So just suggesting opening the incubator mid hatch for any reason can be a recipe for disaster. That's why BYC calls it 'lockdown'. I have a cabinet incubator hatcher combo that I built from scratch. The way it is designed, I can open the hatcher drawer while humid air continues to flow over the eggs so I can cheat. But I know no one else has a setup like it. However, I have 3 sportsman cabinets and I can't get away with opening the door of those till all are done hatching. I would always get shrink wrapped chicks when I did.

I understand and respect your thoughts, feelings and experience. I hope I can explain myself without sounding like I think I'm a knower of all because that's so far from what I actually think. In my opinion, through our experiences, we all have something to add. I personally don't have a problem with assisting hatches and know many people in many different areas that also have the NR360 and have no issues with opening the incubator during lock down. I read over the article written by pyxis before any upcoming hatch, just in case.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I get my chicks from a hatchery, but regarding the concern about yours not drinking yet, are you offering plain water or is there a little sugar in it? I give mine sugar water to start and they take to it right away; they are usually 3 days old when they arrive. I dip their beaks in it, and after I've dipped them all then I dip their wet beaks in the chick starter. I usually have about 18 to 20 chicks. They then start eating and drinking on their own. The next day I switch to Nutri-Drench, I believe, and offer both that and plain water. Good luck, I hope this helps. So happy you had such a good hatch your first attempt!

 

[chickfused]

I opened my incubator several times in a 20% humidity house during this hatch and had no shrink wrap probs. Baby #1 was trying to cannibalize baby #2 while it was still attached to it's egg. Baby #3 had a stuck umbilicus pulling really hard, so I severed it by hand before it could herniate. All the babies got moved to the brooder in batches. Etc. Humidity never fell below 55 and was always back at 80+ in less than 30 seconds.

Just a point of reference is all.

Edit: The babies are all eating and drinking. They're not acting ravenous like mail order chicks, but they are partaking in small bits of both food and water, regularly.

 

[Huntmaster]

The babies are all eating and drinking. They're not acting ravenous like mail order chicks, but they are partaking in small bits of both food and water, regularly.

Sounds like you did it chick mama

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I opened my incubator several times in a 20% humidity house during this hatch and had no shrink wrap probs. Baby #1 was trying to cannibalize baby #2 while it was still attached to it's egg. Baby #3 had a stuck umbilicus pulling really hard, so I severed it by hand before it could herniate. All the babies got moved to the brooder in batches. Etc. Humidity never fell below 55 and was always back at 80+ in less than 30 seconds.

Just a point of reference is all.

Edit: The babies are all eating and drinking. They're not acting ravenous like mail order chicks, but they are partaking in small bits of both food and water, regularly.

Thank you so much for the updates. Oh I don't know if you have raised babies before so you may already know this. I have raised 3 or 4 betches of hatchery chicks, and on all but my last batch we battled pasty butt. What did I do different? So glad you asked! For one thing, I ran a humidifier in the room I kept them in (MO in Aug and Sept, kind of a dry year). For another, I ALWAYS gave them warm water every morning for the first month. And finally, they got one waterer with Nutri-Drench and one with pure clean water every morning so they could choose, every day. For the first time, pasty butt was not a problem (I think I had to clean two chicks, once each), AND I did not lose a single chick, also a first!

 

[chickfused]

Thank you so much for the updates. Oh I don't know if you have raised babies before so you may already know this. I have raised 3 or 4 betches of hatchery chicks, and on all but my last batch we battled pasty butt. What did I do different? So glad you asked! For one thing, I ran a humidifier in the room I kept them in (MO in Aug and Sept, kind of a dry year). For another, I ALWAYS gave them warm water every morning for the first month. And finally, they got one waterer with Nutri-Drench and one with pure clean water every morning so they could choose, every day. For the first time, pasty butt was not a problem (I think I had to clean two chicks, once each), AND I did not lose a single chick, also a first!

Thank you! I have raised multiple batches of hatchery chicks and never once had pasty butt. I check for it every day anyway until they're about 2 weeks old. I give them vitamin water at first, and start giving them grit and very watery foods within a few days of birth. (A slice of tomato or a few blackberries.) I really think the grit is the key personally. At least I hope it is, because I don't have any vitamin supplement for these