hatching chicks, need some quick advice...

[gumbii]

my friend and I both put eggs in our bator january 27th at night... as soon as we went into lock down (monday night) he had a chick pip, and hatched later that night... so say, he hatched tuesday morning... i have 6 chicks in my bator, and after my eggs pip'd, they hatched a couple of hours later...

he has to take the chicks today... but he has a hova-bator... how do you take them out while other eggs have pip'd and he's having a lot of trouble regulating the temp fast after the bator is opened... that, and he's also having trouble holding the humidity up... so what should he do...? hot shower trick...???

my first chick hatched yesterday in the afternoon... and since then, i have 6 fuzzy butts running around...

i had to open my bator last night... one of the chicks fell under the screen and went into the big shallow water dish... so i got some of the same warm water from from the deep pan (i have two water containers) and sprayed the walls and eggs took the chicks out, and raised the dish so they wouldn't fit in it again... i didn't get a big fluctuation in temp, or humidity... i even turned off the fans before i opened the door... but my other chicks hatched a couple of hours after piping... these have been pip'd since yesterday, and i haven't seen any movement... there was an egg that had zipped too... but he still hasn't came out all the way, it even stopped moving... i can see fuzz, and it's opened all the way around, but it's just not coming out... sigh...




so, we need advice...

•what should my friend do...?
•hot shower trick, how will we know we're doing it right...?
•can i leave my chicks in there another day, or should i take them out now...?
•did i mess up my hatching eggs...? i can't tell if they just pip'd, or they've been pip'd...
•how can i tell if i shrink wrapped my pip'd eggs with out opening the bator up again...?
•should i just stop staring at it and enjoy my day doing something else...? LOL... it's driving me nuts...



thanks a million times BYC guru's... this is my first hatch, and might be my last... the city came to my neighbor's house and said that he has to get rid of all of his chickens and can keep two hens...

i can't stop thinking about getting rid of my chickens, and i haven't enjoyed my hatching chicks at all... i should be excited about them, or at least happy but i'm not... i don't want to get rid of my kids...

 

[jvls1942]

this is a little late to ask these questions,, "you have already let the cows out of the barn"

here is te ideal way to do it in the future.. the chicks can spend 72 hours in the incubator after they hatch..

If there are eggs pipped, do not open the hatcher.. fresh air instantly glues the chick to the shell.. It will die without assistance.. then when you go to assist that one you jeopardize the next one and so on...

If you feel you must take chicks out.. remove one of the windows and reach in through the opening.. that will give you the least amount of heat loss and more importantly, less humidity loss..

get a spray bottle and mist with hot water before closing window.. that will bring humidity up fast.. avoid hitting the eggs directly with mist..

 

[gumbii]

Quote:
oh man, i hope i didn't shrink wrap any of them... but i have some good news... i just went to check up on them, and the one that i thought had given up is trying to get himself out of the shell, and another one that pip'd is hatching right now... and i saw some other pip'd eggs moving... so i didn't kill them... they would've been dead by now if they were shrink wrapped last night right...?


i hope this is a good sign... 72 hours you say... i'll take them all out tomorrow after noon then... i have to go get some marbles for the waterer and finish the brooder... gonna use heat tape to heat them up too... it's working good too...



and yeah, pics to come...