HELP! First time hatching - Staggered hatching

[choccycosmos]

Hi All,
I put a post recently about my broody sat on 19 eggs. I realise now that because she was in the main coop the other chickens were laying in her box for a few days after she went broody. 10 eggs successfully hatched on Fri (30th Sep), and 1 chick was dead half out of the shell. I'm moved her and her 10 chicks into a brooder cage on Sun morning (1st Oct) and they're all doing really well. I candled the remaining 8 eggs, 2 there was no development and the other 6 looked to have well developed chicks inside. I put the 6 good eggs into the incubator on lockdown on the higher humidity setting, not really expecting anything. 1 egg pipped Sunday afternoon (1st Oct) and hatched today (2nd Oct). Another has just pipped this afternoon (2nd Oct). The other 4 are not doing anything yet. My question is, will the high humidity effect the other eggs if they still have 2-3 days before they are due to hatch?
Also I want to take the chick that hatched this morning out of the incubator and put it under the broody tonight. Will it be OK to open the incubator quickly to take the chick out?
Thanks in advance

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi All,
I put a post recently about my broody sat on 19 eggs. I realise now that because she was in the main coop the other chickens were laying in her box for a few days after she went broody. 10 eggs successfully hatched on Fri (30th Sep), and 1 chick was dead half out of the shell. I'm moved her and her 10 chicks into a brooder cage on Sun morning (1st Oct) and they're all doing really well. I candled the remaining 8 eggs, 2 there was no development and the other 6 looked to have well developed chicks inside. I put the 6 good eggs into the incubator on lockdown on the higher humidity setting, not really expecting anything. 1 egg pipped Sunday afternoon (1st Oct) and hatched today (2nd Oct). Another has just pipped this afternoon (2nd Oct). The other 4 are not doing anything yet. My question is, will the high humidity effect the other eggs if they still have 2-3 days before they are due to hatch?
Also I want to take the chick that hatched this morning out of the incubator and put it under the broody tonight. Will it be OK to open the incubator quickly to take the chick out?
Thanks in advance

I'm not sure what you mean "will the high humidity affect the other eggs." Do you mean the high humidity in the incubator? It should be up around 60-70% right now while they're technically in lockdown. If it went a little higher when that chick hatched, just open a vent a bit more if you can. Higher humidity for a short period of time won't hurt the other eggs, just try get it back to 60-70% though.

If that chick that hatched this morning is dry and fluffy and you must get it out, my trick is to first have two people, then up the humidity higher. Once humidity is climbing, then crack the lid open only high enough to get a hand in and the chick out. When the other person takes the chick out fast, quickly put the lid back down. I'm assuming your incubator is something with a lid you remove. Once your chick is out, don't forget to check the humidity and vent if necessary. It will go up as others hatch as well. If you only have yourself there, you can still do this fast yourself, it's just easier with two.

Happy hatching!

 

[HeritageFan]

Remember that a momma will occasionally get off the nest to get a drink/ eat.

I personally don’t try to offset humidity when I grab hatched babies out of the bator; I just crack the lid as slightly and as quickly as possible, pull one out, close the lid while I set it down, and repeat for the remaining chicks.

My humidity does drop just a bit, but rebounds quickly.

I do have a humidikit and forced air bator for hatching. If your setup doesn’t come back to proper humidity quickly, and you are controlling w water channels.... you could pop a warm wet paper towel or a piece of a warm wet sponge in there when you are done w the move to get the humidity up more quickly.

Best of luck with the rest!

 

[choccycosmos]

I'm not sure what you mean "will the high humidity affect the other eggs." Do you mean the high humidity in the incubator? It should be up around 60-70% right now while they're technically in lockdown. If it went a little higher when that chick hatched, just open a vent a bit more if you can. Higher humidity for a short period of time won't hurt the other eggs, just try get it back to 60-70% though.

If that chick that hatched this morning is dry and fluffy and you must get it out, my trick is to first have two people, then up the humidity higher. Once humidity is climbing, then crack the lid open only high enough to get a hand in and the chick out. When the other person takes the chick out fast, quickly put the lid back down. I'm assuming your incubator is something with a lid you remove. Once your chick is out, don't forget to check the humidity and vent if necessary. It will go up as others hatch as well. If you only have yourself there, you can still do this fast yourself, it's just easier with two.

Happy hatching!

Thank you for your reply. Sorry, I probably didn't make it very clear. Because I'm not exactly sure of the hatch date of all of the eggs (from candling I think they're all due within 4-5 days of each other), I didn't know whether putting the incubator into lockdown would be bad for any eggs that might still have another 5 days before they hatch. Not sure if that makes more sense

 

[choccycosmos]

UPDATE: I moved the hatched chick under the broody last night and this morning it's doing great and up and about with the rest of the chicks.
One more chick hatched over night and another has just externally pipped

 

[choccycosmos]

Remember that a momma will occasionally get off the nest to get a drink/ eat.

I personally don’t try to offset humidity when I grab hatched babies out of the bator; I just crack the lid as slightly and as quickly as possible, pull one out, close the lid while I set it down, and repeat for the remaining chicks.

My humidity does drop just a bit, but rebounds quickly.

I do have a humidikit and forced air bator for hatching. If your setup doesn’t come back to proper humidity quickly, and you are controlling w water channels.... you could pop a warm wet paper towel or a piece of a warm wet sponge in there when you are done w the move to get the humidity up more quickly.

Best of luck with the rest!

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I just quickly cracked the lid and got the chick out. I don't have any way to check the humidity with my incubator. I will definitely make sure I'm more prepared the next time I decide to hatch eggs.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you for your reply. Sorry, I probably didn't make it very clear. Because I'm not exactly sure of the hatch date of all of the eggs (from candling I think they're all due within 4-5 days of each other), I didn't know whether putting the incubator into lockdown would be bad for any eggs that might still have another 5 days before they hatch. Not sure if that makes more sense

No, it shouldn't matter. Some people do their last candling one week out, then put them in lockdown then and stop turning. I don't go that long, but seriously 5 days vs 3 shouldn't matter.

You need to get yourself a separate thermometer/hygrometer so you know better what's going on as those incubators can be off. I have two (NR360 and Brinsea) and both are off.

 

[choccycosmos]

No, it shouldn't matter. Some people do their last candling one week out, then put them in lockdown then and stop turning. I don't go that long, but seriously 5 days vs 3 shouldn't matter.

You need to get yourself a separate thermometer/hygrometer so you know better what's going on as those incubators can be off. I have two (NR360 and Brinsea) and both are off.

Thank you. I've just ordered a hygrometer for next time