Help a beginner, baby just hatched.

[NBtruckie1]

Hi. We had 9 eggs in an incubator and one egg completely hatched and hour ago. She/he is starting to look “fluffy” and very active with short “naps”. I’ve read some conflicting info on how long to keep this one in before taking her/him out. Should i take this one out and quickly replace the lid with warm wet paper towels to keep the humidity up? None of the other eggs have piped. We have a heat lamp and feather duster waiting for this little one. I want to keep the other eggs in the incubator for a few more days at least, just not sure how to go about this. Any info would be a great help! Thank you!

 

[FeatherTay]

You can leave her in there for, to be safe, 2 days and 2 nights. So about 48 hours - 52 hours.
Her peeping will make the other chicks want to come out of their eggs.
I like to keep chicks in the bator at least until they are able to stand and walk around with no problems.

 

[NBtruckie1]

You can leave her in there for, to be safe, 2 days and 2 nights. So about 48 hours - 52 hours.
Her peeping will make the other chicks want to come out of their eggs.
I like to keep chicks in the bator at least until they are able to stand and walk around with no problems.

Thank you. It’s our first time and there is no “set way” to do this and it’s a little nerve racking

 

[Huntmaster]

Hi. We had 9 eggs in an incubator and one egg completely hatched and hour ago. She/he is starting to look “fluffy” and very active with short “naps”. I’ve read some conflicting info on how long to keep this one in before taking her/him out. Should i take this one out and quickly replace the lid with warm wet paper towels to keep the humidity up? None of the other eggs have piped. We have a heat lamp and feather duster waiting for this little one. I want to keep the other eggs in the incubator for a few more days at least, just not sure how to go about this. Any info would be a great help! Thank you!

If no other eggs are pipped you wont hurt anything by removing new hatchling. I remove hatchlings as soon as I can being mostly dried into warm brooder just be quick about it and don't leave incubator open long. If your incubator is quick at recovering humidity then you might not need to add wet towel. Not sure what kind or how your incubator opens but it doesn't take much to crack lid and get hatchling out on most incubators. I like to get mine out it is harder for them to breath in smaller incubators with high humidity's especially at lockdown. Plus they get to get at food and water sooner and don't play pinball with other eggs. But they can go without food and water for a few days and peeping can stimulate others to hatch. But with no other eggs even pipped it could be a day or much longer before any others hatch. I have done things this way and have hatched 100 or so birds each year without any ill affects. But mostly just turkeys for last 6 years. You are right there are many different opinions this works for me.

 

[NBtruckie1]

If no other eggs are pipped you wont hurt anything by removing new hatchling. I remove hatchlings as soon as I can being mostly dried into warm brooder just be quick about it and don't leave incubator open long. If your incubator is quick at recovering humidity then you might not need to add wet towel. Not sure what kind or how your incubator opens but it doesn't take much to crack lid and get hatchling out on most incubators. I like to get mine out it is harder for them to breath in smaller incubators with high humidity's especially at lockdown. Plus they get to get at food and water sooner and don't play pinball with other eggs. But they can go without food and water for a few days and peeping can stimulate others to hatch. But with no other eggs even pipped it could be a day or much longer before any others hatch. I have done things this way and have hatched 100s of birds each year without any ill affects. But mostly just turkeys for last 6 years. You are right there are many different opinions this works for me.

Thank you for your information!

 

[Brooks_]

Agree that if others have not pipped and the one (or few) is mostly dry and fluffy, it's fine to remove.

 

[NBtruckie1]

Agree that if others have not pipped and the one (or few) is mostly dry and fluffy, it's fine to remove.

Thank you. Unfortunately, only the one so far but from reading and searching it seems common.

 

[Brooks_]

Thank you. Unfortunately, only the one so far but from reading and searching it seems common.

Fine to leave too. I had wanted a Friday hatch day. Only one followed the rules, the rest hatched on Thursday.

 

[Huntmaster]

Thank you. Unfortunately, only the one so far but from reading and searching it seems common.

Good luck with the rest of your eggs hatching and have fun with your new hatchling. Incubating can be such a rewarding and amazing adventure especially your first few times. Congrats.

 

[NBtruckie1]

Decided to take him/her out this morning. Still no other eggs have pipped but fingers crossed. Thank you everyone!