Sorry this is a late reply Fosterley... been dealing with storm clean up
I leave my keets in the 'bator until they are completely fluffed, dried and bulldozing around the incubator, but many people suggest leaving the keets in the 'bator until the entire hatch is over with. Wet keets help keep the humidity high and their peeping also stimulates the other keets to hatch. When I do take keets out I try to take several out at once (not just one at a time), and only when there is a break in the hatching. I do not open the incubator while any other keets are pipped, zipped and hatching. Opening the incubator during a hatch risks drying out the membranes inside the other hatching eggs, which can suffocate the keets or stick to the unhatched keets badly enough that they expire trying to hatch. Once the keets do hatch it can take them a few hours to get to their feet and start moving around (but some hit the ground running, lol). Usually they are pretty exhausted and breathing heavy from the struggle to hatch, so this is normal. Keets can stay in the 'bator and go 24-48 hours without food and water just fine, since they've just absorbed the remainder of the yolk prior to hatching. Once I move them into the brooder I feed my keets high protein Turkey/Pheasant/Game bird Starter, with at least 27-28% protein in it, and just sprinkle some on a paper towel or towel in front of them for the first couple of days. Make sure to quickly dip their beaks in their water a few times so they get a few swallows... and I always put a layer of marbles or clean stones in the waterer so the keets can't get in it and drown. They need bedding that gives them good footing, nothing slippery (NO NEWSPAPER!). Old towels or the rubberized shelf liner both work great (I prefer the shelf liner, I get it at the dollar stores here). Coarse straw or hay without seeds or leaves will work too. Shavings are risky because the keets can eat them, get impacted and die from that, so I avoid shavings until they are about 2 wks old and very familiar with their starter feed and feeder so there is less risk of them eating the shavings.
Congrats on your hatch, and getting to watch, hope you have a few more keets by now!
guineas are still laying .. I am now tempted to incubate those too.. Because they still haven't sat on them.. And they just haven't stopped laying ..It's just a commitment issue.. Another month.. Have to think about it ...
Honestly there were wild guinea on our sugar cane farm.. But poachers wiped them out.. If this wasn't Africa , I would hatch them all and release them.. But poaching is pretty bad.. Tc
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