First timer!

[ronott1]

There’s been no progress or activity in the incubator or with the chick that has pipped for 13 hours- can anyone tell me if that’s something I should be concerned with? I’m trying to remain calm but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit worried (it’s the mother hen in me-pun intended)

13 hours is not too long. Usually you worry if it as been 24 hours. Look at the membrane you can see inside the pip-- It should be more white than brown.

Often the first to pip is not the first to hatch though!

Hatching chicks is not for the faint of heart.

My motto is to give them more time than I think they should have. Usually you get better results that way

 

[Chickennewbie327]

13 hours is not too long. Usually you worry if it as been 24 hours. Look at the membrane you can see inside the pip-- It should be more white than brown.

Often the first to pip is not the first to hatch though!

Hatching chicks is not for the faint of heart.

My motto is to give them more time than I think they should have. Usually you get better results that way

Thank you so much for the advice! I woke up to the cute little chick stomping around the bator like a Dino this morning!! Hooray! Also 4 new pips!

 

[Chickennewbie327]

Hello again everyone! I’ve got 3 chicks hatched and a few more on the way but I’m wondering if the humidity is too high? My incubator doesn’t have humidity controls and has been set to 38.0°C since day one and the walls are extremely foggy with the hatches, and also there is not much room in there between the 3 stomping all over the place and all the cracks eggs- should I be concerned?

 

[Chickennewbie327]

Or could I very quickly take the top off to remove the broken shells to make room for the chicks trying to hatch? I read you arnt supposed to remove the lid once they get going but I’m worried the new ones won’t have enough room to hatch

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Hello again everyone! I’ve got 3 chicks hatched and a few more on the way but I’m wondering if the humidity is too high? My incubator doesn’t have humidity controls and has been set to 38.0°C since day one and the walls are extremely foggy with the hatches, and also there is not much room in there between the 3 stomping all over the place and all the cracks eggs- should I be concerned?

Humidity may be a bit high but if they seem to be hatching ok, I wouldn't worry about it this time around. It's normal for the hatched chicks to play soccer with their unhatched siblings. Most times, it just encourages them to hatch. For your next hatch, you need to invest in a hygrometer to monitor your humidity. It's a trail and error thing to find what humidity works best in your area for hatching. Here, I incubate at 100° and between 20-35% humidity for the first part of incubation then for lockdown and hatching keep it at 65%.

 

[MROO]

I’m very excited to be able to take some pictures for us all to enjoy! We are all very excited!! My son is 9, and Autistic and has a very fierce connection with all animals (he’s like the animal whisperer lol) so he is beside himself awaiting their arrival! Thank you for the warm welcome!

I'm happy to see that your baby dinosaurs are hatching well. And I'm sure your little animal whisperer is over the moon!
Do you have a youth agricultural organization near you, like 4H or Future Farmers? If you do, look into signing your son up for dairy cows. Our 4H has a "Heifer Lease" program, where kids who don't live on farms have access to dairy cows to train and show. We live in a small town, but my daughter shows Guernsey cattle - the biggest golden retrievers in the world! The farmer owns & maintains the cows. The kids are responsible for halter-breaking, training and learning as much about their calves/cows as possible. It's an awesome program, and extremely affordable. It sounds like your son would love it!

 

[Chickennewbie327]

Humidity may be a bit high but if they seem to be hatching ok, I wouldn't worry about it this time around. It's normal for the hatched chicks to play soccer with their unhatched siblings. Most times, it just encourages them to hatch. For your next hatch, you need to invest in a hygrometer to monitor your humidity. It's a trail and error thing to find what humidity works best in your area for hatching. Here, I incubate at 100° and between 20-35% humidity for the first part of incubation then for lockdown and hatching keep it at 65%.

Thank you! I will certainly purchase one the next go around

 

[Chickennewbie327]

I'm happy to see that your baby dinosaurs are hatching well. And I'm sure your little animal whisperer is over the moon!
Do you have a youth agricultural organization near you, like 4H or Future Farmers? If you do, look into signing your son up for dairy cows. Our 4H has a "Heifer Lease" program, where kids who don't live on farms have access to dairy cows to train and show. We live in a small town, but my daughter shows Guernsey cattle - the biggest golden retrievers in the world! The farmer owns & maintains the cows. The kids are responsible for halter-breaking, training and learning as much about their calves/cows as possible. It's an awesome program, and extremely affordable. It sounds like your son would love it!

That’s a great idea- thank you! I live in Vermont, where there are a ton of farms, so hopefully I can find something!

 

[Chickennewbie327]

Chick update! We have 4 fluffy happy chicks already eating and drinking in the brooder, and 2 drying in the incubator. One of the 2 in the bator is seeming to have a bit of trouble, and has quite a large piece of shell stuck to its back/neck. Will that fall off on its own? Thank you in advance!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Chick update! We have 4 fluffy happy chicks already eating and drinking in the brooder, and 2 drying in the incubator. One of the 2 in the bator is seeming to have a bit of trouble, and has quite a large piece of shell stuck to its back/neck. Will that fall off on its own? Thank you in advance!

You can use warm water and maybe a little Dawn dish soap to gently wash the chick and remove the shell. If there's no other eggs hatching, you can do it now and just put it back in the bator to dry.